Konoha's Yellow Fang
by Captain Haki
Summary: A careless mistake by Itachi leaves Naruto with a gift. With a sharingan in his left eye, Naruto will rise up the ranks and make a name for himself. A Naruto modelled after Kakashi.
1. An Unlikely Gift

**Disclaimer: ** Masashi Kishimoto is the creator of Naruto. The only things which I own are my original characters and the plot.

**Title: **Konoha's Yellow Fang

**Rating: **M (If the story isn't exactly M rated now, then it probably will be by the time the story gets going.

**Genres: **Action, Adventure, Humour, Friendship, Romance (this is last because it only really features slightly later in the fic).

**Pairings: **Occur later in the fic (to be honest I have no idea what they'll be, I'll just let the characters emotions be the judge).

**Author's Note: **Well this is my first story and I hope it'll be a winner. I got the idea after comparing the similarities (or lack thereof) between Naruto and Kakashi. In this fic, Naruto will be 2 years older than the other Konoha genin (and therefore a year older than Gai's team). Anyway, please correct me on any spelling and grammar mistakes (they do happen sometimes). Oh and review (please? ). Reviewing will spur me to write more and it also gives you a chance to possibly see your ideas in the story (if they fit with my general plot). So please enjoy and review!

**Summary: **A careless mistake by Itachi leaves Naruto with a gift. With a sharingan in his left eye, Naruto will rise up the ranks and make a name for himself. A Naruto modelled after Kakashi.

**Konoha's Yellow Fang**

_Chapter 1: An Unlikely Gift_

The streets were ridden with corpses of varying sizes as deep red blood flowed freely and loosely through the streets. The only living being left in the area was currently sprinting through the carnage and slaughter.

Uchiha Itachi's feet were pounding the maroon-coloured ground as his breath, which was coming in frequent bursts, mixed with the blood mist in the air. Sweat was dripping down from his forehead, mixing freely with the tears which adorned his face. His eyes hurt from the overexertion of his newly achieved Mangekyou sharingan, but he pushed it to the back of his mind, as his task wasn't completed yet.

The clan was surprisingly difficult to kill quickly and quietly, which is why he had elicited the help of Uchiha Madara. Itachi did not trust Madara, but he knew that it was for the greater good. Uchiha Madara was a dangerous man who would have to be taken care of later. But Itachi was no fool. He knew that he could not defeat Madara in his present state. So he would watch and wait, and learn the secret of the man's immortality.

Frowning, he pushed Madara out of his mind, trying to focus on something else.

This brought his thoughts back to the faces of his clan. Each one guilty. It had hurt him deeply listening to his father and the rest of the clan discussing the coup which would have been attempted in the near future.

When the order came from the council to assassinate his entire clan, there was very little hesitation.

The Third Great Shinobi War was a sight which etched itself upon Itachi's eyes; a tattoo which refused to be removed; a permanent reminder of what could have and most definitely would have happened, if the Uchiha coup were to have occurred.

Itachi knew what war was: a crippling and unnecessary phenomenon which forced itself upon humanity every few years. If he could prevent another war occurring in his lifetime, he would do everything in his power to do so. Including removing his clan from existence.

All except Sasuke. Itachi had made it very clear to the councillors that if anyone harmed Sasuke, there would be hell to pay, and so he spared his brother.

_Flashback_

_Itachi held Sasuke up by the neck, gripping tightly._

"_Foolish little brother, if you wish to kill me, hate me, detest me. And yet survive in an unsightly way. Run, run and cling to life."_

_With those words said, Itachi sent Sasuke spiralling into the world of Tsukuyomi._

_Flashback end._

Itachi had performed his part immaculately. Every person was accounted for. The checklist in his mind of all the Uchiha was fully crossed. With tears freely flowing, Itachi sighed and performed an Academy Student error.

He relaxed.

XXXXXXXXXX

Uzumaki Naruto was a hungry boy.

He hadn't eaten a single meal (much less a bowl of Ichiraku ramen!) the whole day and his discomfort and malnourishment was clear on his face. He had spent all of his allowance which he received from Jiji (the Third Hokage), on a combination of Ichiraku ramen, instant ramen and a few pints of funny-looking milk.

In desperate times such as these, Naruto resigned himself to looking through dumpsters and (if he was quick), stealing from a stall. As it was night time, the stalls were closed, so he would have to go with the first option.

As Naruto lumbered quite unceremoniously through the streets and back alleys of Konoha, he found not a scrap of food. He knew that poor people were less likely to throw away food, and so, with determination, he started to approach the richer areas of the city, nearing the areas reserved for some of the more well known clans.

He started searching for some food, and found only small pieces of stale bread and other such substances. Not to be discouraged, Naruto steeled himself and started thinking (a rare, but not impossible, occasion). There were only two clans with such blatant over indulgence and self-satisfaction that they would throw away large portions of perfectly good food: the guys with the weird white eyes and the guys with the weird red eyes. Realising that he was closer to the red eyed guys, he made his way over to their compound.

Now Uzumaki Naruto was no fool. He knew from his adventures with the Konoha Military Police Force that the guys with the weird red eyes were dangerous. So, hushing his growling stomach and retrieving every bit of stealth in his small body, he went over the wall of the Uchiha compound.

As soon as his feet touched the wet ground below, he knew something was wrong. Naruto lived in the worst part of Konoha, and so, some of the sights which he saw were things which normally, a six year old boy shouldn't see. However, no amount of back alley debauchery and shadiness could prepare him for the streets of the Uchiha compound.

Naruto threw up what little food had snuck its way into his stomach and started dry heaving. After the retching was finished, a gruesome fascination filled him. Who did this? Why? And maybe he could get something to eat now? Naruto stood up shakily on his legs and walked through the streets of the Uchiha compound.

XXXXXXXXXX

The first clue Itachi had that someone was behind him came from the distinct smell of fear and vomit. For anyone besides an Inuzuka, to differentiate the smell from the blood would have been near impossible. Itachi though, being a genius, picked up the slight alteration.

The second clue was slightly more conspicuous: the sound of feet splashing in the blood soaked mud. The feet sounded as though they were children's feet: somewhere between the ages of three and six. Small unsure steps.

He thought he had killed every last one? His mind quickly going to his checklist, while finding no mistake. It did not matter anyway. He knew that the person had seen too much and therefore, must be disposed of.

These thoughts passed through Itachi's head in the milliseconds it took to draw his tanto, while cursing himself at his moment of relaxation. He pivoted on his left leg while slashing vertically downwards: a text book attack taught in the ANBU. If executed with enough force, the attack is supposed to cleave through the skull and through the brain underneath.

In his panic, Itachi miscalculated the position of his stalker and his slash was too shallow. The result was a deep cut through the left eye of one Uzumaki Naruto.

Itachi's panic skyrocketed. This was not supposed to happen.

He moved to check on the boy, but as he did so the moon resigned and the sun started to rise. Itachi's blood ran cold. He was not supposed to be here. Hoping that Naruto would be fine, Itachi took off in a series of shunshins.

XXXXXXXXXX

Sarutobi Hiruzen rubbed his temples and sighed. It was becoming a favourite habit of his to soothe the headaches which came fast and frequently. He cursed the day Tobirama gave him the Hokage hat during the First Shinobi World War, but he couldn't do anything about it now.

He shifted his position on his chair in the hospital waiting room and his bones creaked in harmony with the old wooden chair legs. He knew he would have to find another successor soon, as he was too old for the position now.

"_Minato..."_ He thought in melancholy, remembering his previous successor. He had died too quickly, forcing the Kyuubi into his son, and forcing Sarutobi into the Hokage hat once again. But Sarutobi would make sure to pick his next successor as someone who could stay alive long enough for himself to die.

Sarutobi brought his musings back to the reason he was in the hospital. It started when an ANBU had reported the death of every Uchiha in the village. He knew the problems that he had faced with the Uchiha for a few months were escalating and he had tried to make peace talks. The death of the whole clan solved the problem of the coup, but brought on so many more.

Even though the apparent Uchiha problem was solved, Sarutobi knew that this left Konoha as a whole very, very vulnerable, and so, his first heart attack looked as though it was about to hit. Luckily for him, another ANBU burst through the door, claiming that Uchiha Sasuke had survived. His imminent heart attack went away and he started going through plans in his head to cover up the event.

Before he could so much as start planning, a third ANBU burst through claiming that Uzumaki Naruto had been caught up in the attacks. Sarutobi's heart hitched and threatened to burst through his chest when a fourth ANBU had burst through the door claiming that the boy had been stabilized, thus saving the village from losing their Third Hokage to heart failure. He quickly calmed himself down and rushed to the hospital to check on both Naruto and Sasuke.

The door creaked open, relieving him of his musings and he snapped his neck in hope towards the Medic-nin. Yakushi Migaki was the head medic-nin in Konoha and had made it quite clear that he had no problem with Naruto at all. Therefore, most of Naruto's problems went straight to him.

"How are they?" The Third asked, hopeful and fearful at the same time.

"Well, Sasuke is fine," Migaki replied with a slight yawn in his voice. "He's been stabilized, but he's in a coma. It seems as though his mind has been broken down. It's a reaction you would expect from constant torture... or perhaps multiple layers of mind-altering genjutsus."

The Third was not surprised. Genjutsu was Itachi's specialty. But it did bother him that Itachi would use it on his four year old brother.

"I see... but how is Naruto?" He realised that Migaki hadn't mentioned him at all. "How is he doing?" The panic in his voice was evident.

"He's been stabilized as well, but..." At this point Migaki looked downwards and scowled. "He's permanently blind in his left eye. He can never see again from it. To be honest, he's lucky that the cut was too shallow to reach his brain. I'm sorry."

Sarutobi looked mortified. He didn't want to fail Minato's son, after all the trouble Minato and his wife had spent on the seal to keep the Kyuubi at bay. Naruto was like a grandson to him. His heart was pained as he refused to shed tears. The boy wanted to be the Hokage and without his left eye, it would be much more difficult, if not impossible. He didn't know what to do.

"Isn't there anything you could do at all?" Sarutobi pleaded, almost seeing the hurt on the boy's face.

"Well, there is one thing... but I would need your permission and, well... there is a slight complication..."

"Anything! As long as he can see from his left eye again!" The hope was rising in Sarutobi's chest again and his face was beginning to glow.

"Well, we could implant a new eye into his socket. It's not exactly difficult. You see, the problem is where to get an eye from."

This caused Sarutobi to frown. He knew that a donor wouldn't exactly want to give an eye to the "demon child".

"But that's not all. The eye has to be from someone in the same age range; preferably within a year or a few months. Luckily for him a large number of donors just came in last night."

Sarutobi paled. He did not like where this was going. He had a suspicion that he would not like the suggestion.

"Uchiha Kito was a six year old boy who, as you know, was killed in the massacre. As they are the same age, we can easily transfer his eye into Naruto's. Now here is the complication: as you know, when put into an extremely stressful situation, an Uchiha has the chance to unlock their sharingan. Due to the mental trauma Kito experienced, he unlocked the first stage of his sharingan before he was brutally slaughtered. Transplanting the eye into Naruto would mean he would have a constantly active sharingan. I'm sure you know the possible risks this carries. So it is your choice."

The Third Hokage sighed, feeling yet another headache approaching. Only once before had a non-Uchiha been implanted with the sharingan eye (although he had his suspicions of Danzo, but they couldn't be proven). The political backlash which Sarutobi had to face when Kakashi came back from Kannabi Bridge without a teammate, but with the sharingan, was a nightmare and he wasn't looking forward to another experience like it.

But he had to do it for Naruto; for his pseudo grandson. To see Naruto smile again and to see him take the Hokage hat, he would take the political backlash and thrust the boy into a chaotic world.

"Fine... do it," the Third announced. "Implant the eye into Naruto. Hopefully, if I'm not too much of a selfish old man, it should make his life better. How long will it take?"

"About four, maybe five, hours. It depends on how long it takes for his chakra system to fully adjust to the foreign organ. But with his... tenant... I can't tell whether it will take longer or shorter."

"That's fine Migaki-san," Sarutobi replied tiredly (after all, he hadn't slept very much). "I'll wait here."

XXXXXXXXXX

_6 hours later_

Sarutobi Hiruzen was woken up from his nap when he heard the door to the operating room open. Migaki came out looking even more tired than he did before.

"How was it?" The anticipation in Sarutobi's voice was evident. _"I hope I haven't made another mistake..."_ he thought.

"It was a success," at this, the Third sighed in contentment. "We finished about an hour ago and we've placed him on some immunosuppressant drugs. Although I doubt they are needed. It seems as though he's adapted superbly, beyond expectations! His tenant must have something to do with it!" His voice was filled with clear excitement. "If somehow we can harness its chakra, we might never have cases of organ rejection again!"

"No," Sarutobi said flatly. "Although that is very good news. May I see him?"

"Sure, he should be waking up soon," Migaki frowned at the Hokage's complete dismissal of his idea.

They both entered the room and saw a drowsy Naruto trying to sit up in his bed.

"Jiji..." Naruto started, but was cut off by the Hokage.

"Don't try to move or speak yet Naruto! You still need rest. You've been through a lot and I'm sorry for it. What happened last night was something you shouldn't have been put through." Sarutobi said, feeling like he had failed the boy.

"I'm fine Jiji... but my head feels like it's splitting in two!" Naruto claimed feeling the most horrendous headache he had ever experienced. "What happened?"

"I'll explain that soon," Sarutobi replied. It was clear the boy didn't remember the massacre. "I called for Inu-san about two hours ago. So he should be here right about... now."

As soon as he said those words, there was a knock on the door followed by an ANBU with unnaturally silver hair. What was most strange was the interesting choice of literature he had firmly grasped in his hand.

"Ah Inu-san, thanks for finally coming. Why are you so late?" The Hokage asked, not expecting a solid answer.

"I got lost on the road of life," Inu answered, fulfilling the Hokage's expectations.

"Yes, well... Migaki-san, could you leave us for a while please?" Sarutobi asked the medic-nin.

"Of course," Migaki replied. "But please make sure that Naruto rests. He isn't ready for any kind of physical task."

"Kakashi, remove your mask," the Third said once Migaki had left the room.

Slightly stunned, Kakashi removed his dog mask to reveal a face hidden behind a face mask. He knew that ANBU weren't supposed to reveal their identities to anyone except the Hokage and their immediate family. Which was the reason Sarutobi had Migaki leave the room.

"So..." Kakashi said, slightly perturbed.

"Kakashi, do you know who this is?" Sarutobi asked, while pointing to Naruto.

"Hmm..." Kakashi mused while tilting his head. "I suspect that's a boy."

Naruto looked enraged, shouting curses and bloody murder, while the Hokage just sweat-dropped.

"Yes, but as you most likely know, this is Uzumaki Naruto. His... situation has been made even more... interesting." The Third intoned, causing Kakashi to lift an eyebrow, well aware of the Kyuubi sealed inside Naruto.

"Interesting? Interesting like this book," Kakashi asked, while pointing to the Icha Icha novel. "Or interesting like the recent turn of events in Konoha?"

"Very clever, Kakashi." Sarutobi answered. "It is indeed linked with what just happened. You see, Naruto here had... an accident. A run-in with Itachi."

Kakashi was immediately paying his full attention to the Hokage. Itachi wouldn't have dared doing anything to Naruto that would risk freeing the Kyuubi... would he?

"During Itachi's killing spree, he wounded Naruto, thus resulting in Naruto's left eye being useless," Sarutobi continued. At the mention of this, Naruto's uncovered eye went wide. Although whether in reaction to the killing spree or the lack of a left eye, Sarutobi didn't know. "As a result, we performed an emergency transplant. Luckily for him, there were quite a few donors..."

Kakashi's eye went wide. _"He couldn't have...!"_ he thought.

"The only available eye was in the body of a certain Uchiha Kito. Unfortunately, it was an activated sharingan eye, with one tomoe... or maybe I should say fortunately?"

Naruto was in a mixture of relief and astonishment. _"I dunno what that weird shariman or whatever does, but I know it's what makes those guys with the weird red eyes important and respected!"_ Naruto thought in excitement.

"Hokage-sama, do you realise what you've done?" Kakashi asked in anger at the old man's lax with the situation. "You've cursed the boy to a life of struggling!"

"I've done nothing of the sort!" The Hokage replied with frustration. "I've given a boy with a large dream but no hope, the ability to continue dreaming. It was not an easy decision! You know how hard it is for people like him to live in this world!"

"_People like me?"_ Naruto thought in confusion.

"But..." Kakashi didn't like the thought of this. His eye had been a gift and he had taken the decision to receive it. But this sharingan eye was forced upon Naruto.

"I understand your apprehension Kakashi," Sarutobi sighed. He hoped he wouldn't regret what he was about to do. "Kakashi, I'm taking you out of the ANBU. You'll be reinstated as a regular jounin."

"What! Why?" Kakashi asked, put off by the thought of the whole thing, yet oddly enough fearing the answer he would receive.

"Naruto can no longer go through his childhood without a guardian. He will need someone to teach him who understands the uses of the sharingan. The list is rather depleted now that all of the Uchiha are dead. Besides, he needs a role model. Kami knows you're a terrible one, but you're a fantastic ninja, so it's a balance."

"But I can't take care of a child! I'm only seventeen!" Kakashi shouted in denial.

"Don't worry about that. I have no doubt you'll do a fine job. Besides, I'll have you on a little extra special allowance."

By now, Kakashi's head was swimming. He knew that it was a privilege to take care of his sensei's son, but he had no idea what he was going to do.

Naruto, on the other hand, was in a semi-coma at the amount of information he had to take in. The red eyed guys were dead. He had their eye. He was no longer going to be living alone. What was under that guys mask?

"Come back in a week's time Kakashi and Naruto should be well rested enough to go back to your house." Sarutobi said as Kakashi walked dazedly to the door, almost forgetting to put his mask back on. "I expect great things from him Kakashi. Make _him_ proud."

At those words, Kakashi froze and if the Hokage had seen his eyes, he would have seen a steely determination. With his steps reinforced with confidence, Kakashi walked out of the hospital room, getting ready to prepare for a second person in his house.

XXXXXXXXXX

_One week later_

A week had passed, giving Kakashi enough time to assimilate back into an ordinary jounin's life. It had considerably less structure and Kakashi found he enjoyed the increased freedom. The lack of protocol and stiffness, initially, was difficult for Kakashi to return to, but he eventually managed, filling up a large majority of his free time with Icha Icha books and with the memorial stone.

Kakashi was currently in front of the Konoha General Hospital. He was supposed to have been here two hours ago, but that was nothing a little excuse wouldn't fix, Kakashi thought with an eye-smile.

He quickly went past the receptionist who was shouting at him, claiming that it wasn't visiting hours. Kakashi ignored her and walked up the stairs. He reached the door, knocked and entered. He saw the Hokage sitting in a chair next to the hospital bed, talking amiably with Naruto.

"Yo." Kakashi greeted with a wave of his hand.

"Why are you late Kakashi?" The Hokage asked, trying to keep the mirth out of his voice.

"Ah, you see, I had to help an old lady cross multiple streets." Kakashi offered in reply, with a lazy smile showing through his face mask.

Usually, Naruto would have had a few choice words for such a lame excuse, but today, his tongue was tied in anxiety.

"_What if he's just like the other guardians and the people at the orphanage?"_ Naruto thought, with gloom evident on his face.

"Ah Naruto, you look hungry. I heard there's some kinda ramen store not too far from here. D'you wanna go?" Kakashi asked, picking up on Naruto's apprehension.

"Yatta!" Naruto exclaimed in delight. Any nervousness had disappeared. Anyone who liked ramen couldn't be evil. "See ya Jiji! Come on nii-san! You're too slow!" Naruto shouted in his excitement, almost dragging Kakashi away.

"Don't cause too much trouble Naruto!" Sarutobi offered in reply to an agitated Naruto. "Oh and Kakashi, make sure you take good care of him. I'll expect frequent reports on how he's doing."

"Mah, you worry too much," Kakashi replied in dismissal. "He'll be fine I'm sure."

Sarutobi smiled as Naruto dragged Kakashi out of the hospital, no doubt towards debt.

"_You'll be great someday Naruto and I look forward to giving you my hat soon,"_ he thought with a grin. _"Now, as I'm alone..."_ he thought, while pulling out a copy of Icha Icha.

"Hokage-sama! There's an emergency!" Someone burst through the door to the hospital room.

"_Damnit..."_

A/N: Well there you have it. The first instalment in Konoha's Yellow Fang. I hope you enjoyed it and the next is on the way soon. I've seen a few bloodline Naruto stories and a few where he's also gained the sharingan and I just thought it would be nice to try my hand at it.

It's my first story so please, please, please review and don't hesitate to be harsh; it'll just make my next chapters better.

**Jiji = Gramps/Old man**

**Inu-san = Dog**

**Yatta = Hooray/woot**

**Nii-san = brother/bro**

Look out for the next chapter which, hopefully, will be even more interesting than this one.

See ya then! Ja ne!


	2. A Thousand and One Dreams

**Disclaimer: ** Masashi Kishimoto is the creator of Naruto. The only things which I own are my original characters and the plot.

**Author's Note:** Thanks for all the reviews guys! I'm pleased with the reception so far.

I've had a few people worried that the story is going to depreciate into a godlike Naruto who bashes people all the time.

I can totally agree with all the worries. Usually when Naruto gets the sharingan, that sort of thing happens in the stories. I hate it when that does happen. I'll try my hardest not to bash any characters and to make Naruto's growth believable and enjoyable. Feel free to tell me when I'm going wrong and please, please, please review!

Anyway, here's chapter 2. Enjoy!

**Konoha's Yellow Fang**

_Chapter 2: A Thousand and One Dreams_

Kakashi had never had to control his laughter so much in his life. The short walk from the Konoha General Hospital to the Ichiraku ramen stand was almost too much for him.

Naruto had been stumbling, falling and bumping into objects every few steps and hearing the little boy's curses had sent Kakashi into laughing fits.

Kakashi couldn't blame him though. As the left side of Naruto's face was covered in bandages to cover up the sharingan from the public, his depth perception was basically nonexistent.

Remembering when he returned from Kannabi Bridge with his sharingan eye covered up, Kakashi had to spend a few weeks off the ninja register in order to adjust to using only one eye.

Turning his mind away from his botched mission, Kakashi looked down to see Naruto sprawled on the floor holding his forehead in pain. Sighing, Kakashi bent down and picked him up, placing him on his shoulders.

"You know..." Kakashi said while thinking. "I've never seen a ninja who couldn't walk before."

"Oh yeah?" Naruto said fuming. "Well it's not like all ninja have to walk around with one eye closed."

He most likely realised the irony when Kakashi just dead-panned. Deciding to quickly change the subject away from his stupidity, Naruto commented on Kakashi's book.

"Ne Kakashi nii-san, what's in that book?" He couldn't read, but he really wanted to.

"This, Naruto, is the greatest book ever to be written," Kakashi said, truly believing his words. "It was written by Jiraiya-sama, one of the sannin. I'll teach you to read, don't worry. I just can't imagine you missing out on such wonderful literature."

"Wow! Thanks nii-san!" Naruto exclaimed with ecstasy in his voice. "No one's ever been this nice to me before! It's almost like a dream..."

Naruto finished sadly, almost as if he was actually expecting to wake up in the hospital, having dreamt everything that happened. Kakashi didn't like this and hoped to change Naruto's overall outlook on the world and on people and hopefully also change Konoha's outlook on him.

With Konoha in mind, Kakashi looked around the streets and was met with a mixture of cold glares and indifference. The Kyuubi attack had killed many people and so, the majority of the population of Konoha had turned against Naruto.

While none were foolish enough to actually harm him, the hate and the ignoring which Naruto had to put up with had an effect on his mental state and forced the boy to look for attention through any means.

Kakashi had plans to focus Naruto's creativity away from pranking and to increase his popularity in Konoha; although the former was much easier than the latter.

XXXXXXXXXX

The walk from the hospital to Ichiraku Ramen was one of the most unpleasant things Kakashi had ever had to do. He was not used to being glared at and so the short walk had been an eye opener into the life of Uzumaki Naruto. He was astonished that anyone could take so much hate and yet be so happy on the outside. Luckily for him though, they arrived at the ramen stand.

"Hello! Welcome to Ichiraku Ramen! What can I get for you?" Ayame chirped happily. She then realised whom she was talking to. "Naruto? What happened to you? Dad and I haven't seen you in nearly a week! With all the chaos in Konoha, we thought someone might have tried to hurt you... What happened to your face?"

"Nee-chan! I'm fine!" Naruto said with a pout. "I got hurt but I don't really remember what happened... But I'm fine now! Kakashi nii-san is taking care of me now! He's really cool! He's always late and makes bad excuses. But he can walk while he reads! And he said he'll teach me to read! He wears this cool mask, but I wanna see what's underneath."

While Naruto rambled on, Ayame took in Kakashi. She had seen all of Naruto's previous carers and all of them had pretended to be nice to him, but then their true personalities always showed in the end. Ayame was determined not to let Naruto get hurt and disappointed again.

"That's nice Naruto. Now why don't you sit down and order with dad while I talk to this Kakashi?" Ayame said in a tone that didn't warrant objection.

"Hey old man! One miso ramen and one pork ramen!" Naruto exclaimed.

"Coming right up Naruto!" Teuchi replied.

Ayame led Kakashi into the storeroom of the stand and, turning around, was about to lash out at him verbally but was beaten to it by Kakashi himself.

"Ah. Ayame-chan was it?" He said while pulling his flak vest off and starting to unbutton his shirt. "If you wanted me alone, you only had to ask. I'm all warmed up so no need for foreplay."

"Wha...?" Ayame stuttered with a fierce blush on her face. "Pervert! I'm not here for that! I'm here to talk about Naruto!"

"Oh... Well that's disappointing."

"Don't think I don't know your kind! I've seen loads of carers like you!" Ayame announced. "First you act all nice. Then you try to find ways to get rid of Naruto-kun! You make it seem like an accident, but the Hokage always finds out! Well I won't tolerate you hurting Naruto-kun again! He deserves better than monsters like you!"

"I agree." Kakashi replied without fault.

"Wait... what?" Ayame asked, clearly confused.

"I said I agree," Kakashi replied with conviction. "Naruto is the greatest hero in Konoha and he doesn't even know it. He does deserve better than me. But I can't do anything about it. I've been made his guardian, so I'll guard him with my life. He's very precious to me and I don't want to see him harmed."

Kakashi started to walk back out of the storeroom but then paused.

"You know," He continued. "It's calming to know that Naruto has someone who cares about him so deeply. I truly thank you for that. You're a good person."

He walked out of the storeroom and back into the eating area, leaving a stunned Ayame.

"Ah, Naruto, have you finished eating?" Kakashi asked smiling.

"Yup!" Naruto replied, clearly satisfied. "It was so good! I started with two bowls, but then I asked for three more, then five, then six!"

"Here's the bill." Teuchi said, pleased with his daily profit.

Kakashi sweat-dropped at the amount and reluctantly gave the money to the ramen chef.

"_We'll have to find a better diet for him,"_ Kakashi thought. _"One that's less expensive."_

"Ne Kakashi nii-san, why's your shirt undone?" Naruto asked in confusion.

Kakashi sweat-dropped, while Teuchi looked murderous.

XXXXXXXXXX

After wriggling himself out of the awkward situation, Kakashi found himself walking to the clothes store with a noticeably heavier Naruto on his shoulders.

"Where are we going now nii-san?" Naruto asked.

"Well, since you're living with me now, I can't have you in dirty, smelly, two-sizes-too-small clothes." Kakashi replied. _"Or else the Hokage will cut my pay rise..."_ He added in his thoughts.

"Wow! Really?" Naruto asked in awe.

"Yeah. Why's that so surprising?" Kakashi asked in confusion.

"Well, it's just that none of my other guardians have bought me clothes before..." Naruto looked down, upset. "They usually say it's not worth the trouble..."

Kakashi wondered what he meant by the last part, but would soon find out.

The two entered a civilian clothes store a few miles away from Kakashi's house and headed for the children's section. Picking a couple of pairs of navy blue trousers with a couple of white t-shirts, Kakashi and Naruto proceeded to the checkout. At this point Kakashi saw Naruto tense, but thought nothing of it.

"That'll be 2,500 ryo," the store clerk said without looking at Naruto.

"What!" Kakashi exclaimed in disbelief. "Why? That's not what the price on the shelf says!"

"The price on the shelf is wrong then." The clerk replied without missing a beat.

"But that's over five times the original price!" Kakashi shot back. "There's no way that's a mistake!"

"Yes, well, inflation really is hitting Konoha," the store clerk replied, still refusing to acknowledge Naruto. "Most stores have raised their prices."

"You must have trouble getting customers then." Kakashi replied.

"Not at all. We serve all people well here. Most people come back."

"Even Naruto?" Kakashi asked, finally understanding why most of Naruto's carers had thought it too troublesome to get him anything.

"We serve all _people_ equally." The clerk intoned.

"I see," Kakashi replied with a frown. "Well don't worry. I'm sure Ibiki-san treats all _people_ equally as well. Sorry, what was your name?"

This was Kakashi's trump card. Morino Ibiki was known to treat traitors with little tolerance. If the Hokage found out about this situation, the store clerk would no doubt be spending some quality time with Ibiki. Most likely, he wouldn't be walking again.

"W-well, you're in luck today! We're having a discount on all children's clothes! That'll be 800 ryo." The store clerk replied hastily.

Kakashi frowned. It was still over priced, but it was definitely an improvement. He handed over the money and walked out of the store with Naruto firmly planted on his shoulders.

He knew that Naruto didn't deserve what he went through and so he would do his utmost to make sure that Naruto would become a first-class shinobi so that the village's view of him would improve. It was all he could do in order to thank the yondaime for all that he did.

XXXXXXXXXX

A very similar exchange happened at the bookshop.

"That'll be 2,000 ryo." The bookshop owner said with malice in his voice.

"That's insane!" Kakashi said infuriated. "It's just a children's early learning book!"

"Take it or leave it."

XXXXXXXXXX

The ninja equipment store was no different.

"That'll be 3,000 ryo for the kunai set, 2,500 for the shurikens and 1,000 for the face mask. Do you want anything else, or can you pay and get out?"

"Yeah," Kakashi replied. "I'd like to know when you close this evening. I think Ibiki's doing a late shift."

XXXXXXXXXX

By the time Kakashi was done threatening all of the store owners which he had come across, it was late, he was tired and most definitely disgruntled. He most certainly wasn't looking forward to doing that again.

"Those idiots!" Kakashi growled fiercely. "They should be praising you! Yet their treating you like..."

Kakashi sighed, realising he was getting too far into a story he shouldn't be. With Naruto oddly silent on his shoulders, they approached his house.

It was just a small modest three bed house near one of the training grounds. Kakashi didn't really need the size, as he only used a few of the rooms, but it was his father, Hatake Sakumo's, house and so he kept it for the sentimental value.

"Well this is it Naruto," Kakashi said with a small weary smile. "Make yourself at home, you'll be living here with me for a few years so you might as well get used to it."

"Why do you do it?" Naruto asked timidly, with confusion clearly in his voice.

"Hmm? Why do I do what?"

"Why do you act so nice?" Naruto asked, close to tears. "People never do this for me. So why do you?"

Kakashi sighed. He knew he had to give the kid a pep talk as he knew that people like Naruto weren't used to getting any affection.

"I do it because you deserve it." Kakashi replied, choosing his words carefully. "You're a very special boy. A hero. Yet people don't understand that." At this point Naruto was shedding tears. "I know you've only really had Hokage-sama and those ramen people as people who care about you, but I hope you can at least add me to that list soon."

"Why do they treat me like this?" Naruto was crying fully now.

"I... don't know." Kakashi lied. "But what I do know is that by the time I'm done with you, the whole of Konoha will view you as a great hero. I'll turn you into an amazing ninja. Cheer up, ne?"

"Kakashi nii-san..."

"Oh come on." Kakashi said frowning. "What happened to your energy? I don't wanna see you like this. Now go upstairs and take a shower, then come downstairs for dinner. We'll start your training tomorrow."

"Thanks Kakashi nii-san. I'm gonna be just like you!" Naruto said. Feeling slightly better, he ran up the stairs and went to what he presumed as his room.

XXXXXXXXXX

Dinner was a small soup with some bread and meat. Kakashi wasn't that big on ramen and had made it clear to Naruto that he would have to eat better foods if he wanted to grow and become a strong ninja. Naruto had paled and refused, until Kakashi had threatened not to teach him anything.

As both of them were tired, they both decided that an early night's sleep wouldn't harm them at all.

Naruto went upstairs after having said goodnight and settled into his bed.

With anticipation for the morning, Naruto drifted off to sleep with a smile on his face.

XXXXXXXXXX

The smell of blood was thick in the air and made Naruto's nose wrinkle up in disgust. He could hardly breathe and any air he forced into his lungs was contaminated with the foul stench of death hanging ominously in the air.

He could see the bodies strewn across the ground, lying lifeless in the mud. One man seemed to have died in absolute terror, as his eyes conveyed a gruesome message.

Naruto resisted the urge to vomit, as he forced himself onto his shaky legs. He saw many of the bodies were laying face-up and he tried to avoid their eyes.

Who did this? How? Why? These were the questions pouring through Naruto's mind as he trudged through the blood-soaked mud. He had no goal, but he just knew that he was walking in the right direction.

As he reached one area particularly littered with bodies, he saw a man running to his right. Walking up behind him to ask if he knew anything, the man flashed around, almost too quickly for Naruto to comprehend.

He felt a stinging pain in his left eye, followed by an engulfing blackness. Naruto tried to run but felt his legs turn to lead. He collapsed as the blackness overtook him.

As his mind turned black, the last sights he took in were those of a black haired man with red eyes staring at him in shock, with tears running down his face.

XXXXXXXXXX

Naruto jumped out of his sleep with a cold sweat encasing his body. His heart was beating increasingly fast and his left eye itched. A normal boy would be in hysterics at the contents of his nightmare, but Naruto's thoughts were different.

"_I remember."_

With an odd calm, Naruto left his roomed and approached Kakashi's. Entering without knocking, Naruto found Kakashi reading on his bed, just getting ready to go to sleep.

"Kakashi nii-san... I remember." Naruto said softly.

Kakashi was confused and was about to ask what he remembered until he saw Naruto pointing at his left eye. Kakashi's open eye widened significantly and he forced himself to calm down. Details of the Uchiha Clan massacre were kept tightly under lock and key, and even he himself didn't know too much about it. This was delicate and he had to go about it as such.

"I see..." Kakashi replied softly. "How are you feeling?"

"There were so many... bodies." Naruto said hollowly. "Who was he?"

"Uchiha Itachi. He was the most talented clan member since Uchiha Madara. But let's not get into that. I want to know how you're feeling." Kakashi said, not wanting Naruto to bottle it up.

"I feel... scared." Naruto admitted. "That man scares me. He could not only kill that many people, but they were his family."

"Yes, that's true Naruto." Kakashi said, feeling sorry for the boy. He was too young to see that. "I don't know anyone else who could have done that."

"Whose eye is this?" Naruto asked, touching his new sharingan filled eye-socket.

"It was an Uchiha kid about your age. He had awakened the sharingan. That's what their red eyes are."

"So... I have those red eyes?" Naruto asked, almost fearfully. He knew about the red eyes, as many of the Konoha police had them. But they were long gone now. Slaughtered by this Uchiha Itachi.

"Well you have one red eye, Naruto." Kakashi said carefully.

"I don't want it."

Kakashi was afraid of this. When he had received the sharingan from Obito, it was by choice. But this had been forced upon Naruto after a stressful and traumatic experience. He knew the plans that the Third had for Naruto and so he couldn't let Naruto start loathing his eye.

"I understand that you don't want it Naruto, but don't be selfish."

"Selfish!" Naruto exclaimed in rage. "How am I being selfish? This was all forced on me! I never wanted any of this! It's not fair!"

"I'm saying that you're completely ignoring the dreams and wishes of all the Uchiha who have been entrusted into your eye." Kakashi said firmly. "For years, the Uchiha wanted to be Hokage, but they never got the position." Kakashi continued, remembering the coup that was building. "If you take out your eye, then you're spitting on all of their hopes and dreams. The future of Konoha lies in you and the next generation. If you want to be Hokage, do it as well for the Uchiha who died with all of their dreams unfulfilled."

This hit Naruto hard. He knew how much having a dream meant and he could not imagine what it would be like if he were to not fulfil his dream. He realised what Kakashi meant when he said that he was being selfish. Ashamed, Naruto hung his head down, expecting to be punished.

"Come on up here." Kakashi said while patting his bed. "I'll tell you a story. Maybe it'll help you get back to sleep."

Naruto was surprised by Kakashi. Most of his carers would scold him at this point, but Kakashi did nothing of it. Instead, he was rewarding him!

"What's the story about?" Naruto asked in anticipation.

"I'm gonna tell you about the First Shinobi World War." Kakashi announced. "Well part of it at least. It's not really a story you tell children, but you've seen more than most children anyway, so it doesn't matter. Anyway, it's good that you listen to this stuff, because it'll be in the academy at some point."

Naruto was slightly put off, as he didn't want to hear about more dead bodies, but he sat still and listened anyway.

"The First Shinobi World War started for unknown reasons. It was started shortly after the establishment of the shinobi villages such as this one. The First Hokage, Senju Hashirama, and his brother, Senju Tobirama, both died during the war."

As Kakashi explained the turn of events and the battles between both sides, Naruto found himself enraptured with a gruesome awe. He knew that he didn't want to see another dead body again, but the war stories were interesting in that he enjoyed hearing about the ninjas and how they fought.

Kakashi continued to tell the story for a few more minutes until he noticed Naruto started to yawn.

"We'll continue with this at another time." He said. "You and I need to sleep; it's gonna be a long day tomorrow. I'm sure that by then end of it you'll be even more tired than you are now."

Naruto was both scared and excited at the prospect of learning to be a ninja. On the one hand, he would be closer to becoming Hokage like gramps, but on the other he would eventually have to kill people. He would have to weigh the pros and cons later.

He stepped off the bed and walked over to the door. He opened it and was about to make his way back to his room when he heard Kakashi's voice again.

"Don't forget Naruto. You've got a thousand dreams entrusted into that eye."

It was simple enough as a passing sentence. But for Naruto, it struck him hard. Finally understanding the importance of his eye, Naruto walked back to his room, more determined than ever to become Hokage.

As he rested his head on his pillow, he vowed to become the best ninja in the world, so that he could fulfil a thousand and one dreams.

XXXXXXXXXX

**Author's Note:** Who woulda thought that writing these interactions would've been so hard? Not me.

Anyway, Naruto finally remembers what happened in the massacre (he knew about the massacre from last chapter, but he didn't remember what happened). He's got a new resolve. He's got Kakashi to help him, and with crazy babysitters, who knows how far he could get!

Look out for the next chapter of Konoha's Yellow Fang!

Ok that was me trying to sound like a show presenter. Anyway, please review as it makes me want to write more (and who doesn't like to hear how he's doing?).

Thanks for the reviews! You're all great! Ja ne!


	3. Training and Babysitters

**Disclaimer: ** Masashi Kishimoto is the creator of Naruto. The only things which I own are my original characters and the plot.

**Author's Note:** Well here we go with Chapter 3 from your favourite (I hope) story! I enjoyed reading all of your reviews for Chapter 2 and they really do help me progress the story, so keep them coming.

Anyway, Chapter 3, hot off the presses.

**Konoha's Yellow Fang**

_Chapter 3: Training and Babysitters_

In anticipation, Naruto had woken up at around seven o'clock, which was early for him. So he was surprised when he saw Kakashi already up, sitting at the kitchen table with a mug of coffee in his hand.

"Ne, Kakashi nii-san, what are you doing up so early?" Naruto asked in an obnoxiously loud voice.

"Good morning Naruto," Kakashi replied. "It's good that you're well rested, but I'm not up early, you're up late. We've already wasted some sunlight, so eat your breakfast quickly and we'll get started on your training."

Naruto was shocked, but pushed his attention to the food in front of him. There was porridge in a bowl, some toast and some eggs. Now, he didn't mind eggs when they were on top of ramen, but this breakfast looked so grey and lacked the colourfulness of his favourite food.

"I don't want it." Naruto said petulantly.

"Hmm..." Kakashi thought. "Ok, then no food for you. Let's go train."

"No! Wait!" Naruto cried. "I'll eat it."

He was too hungry to complain about the unfairness of the situation. Didn't Kakashi nii-san know that ramen was the best food in the world?

He quickly finished the grey meal in front of him and followed Kakashi out of the house. It took the two of them about one minute to walk from the house to the closest training ground, where Kakashi began to explain the regime.

"Ok then," Kakashi started. "We're starting late today because you woke up late. I expect us to be at the training ground by 6:30 in the morning every day."

Naruto paled at this revelation. Being an orphan, he wasn't used to routine and being thrust into the routine of a typical ninja was an extreme eye opener.

"As soon as we arrive," Kakashi continued, pleased with Naruto's shock. "You'll go through a warm-up and we'll start with a few hours of taijutsu practice. We'll do this in the morning because nothing wakes you up like being beaten senseless."

Naruto sweat dropped.

"After this, you'll work on your chakra control and meditation for a few hours," Kakashi stated. "But right now, we'll have you unlock your chakra first. We'll then have a lunch break, during which I'll teach you about tactics. After all, if you can't plan ahead, you'll never become Hokage."

Naruto was processing all of the information Kakashi was giving him and he couldn't wait to start.

"After lunch, we'll spend the afternoon working on your ninjutsu." Kakashi stated. "I can't tell exactly, but I think you're more likely to be geared towards a ninjutsu specialist, so we'll be spending more time on that. But as I said, for now we'll be working on you unlocking your chakra first. The jutsu flinging can come later."

Naruto was bouncing up and down on his feet in excitement over the prospect of all the cool ninjutsu he'll be able to use after Kakashi nii-san was done training him.

"We'll then do some cool down exercises and go back to the house." Kakashi continued. "After dinner, we'll continue working on tactics and we'll add in some history and general education. You need it. Trust me. So, any questions?"

"Yeah," Naruto replied in excitement. "When do we start?"

"Right now," Kakashi replied. "I want you to give me a lap of this training ground and then go through the dynamic stretches which I show you afterwards."

Naruto took off in a sprint to try and get the warm up finished quickly so that he could start on the super awesome ninjutsu.

Returning suitably tired, Naruto followed Kakashi's instructions concerning the dynamic stretches and then sat down to listen to Kakashi's lesson.

"Ok now Naruto," Kakashi said, entering his teaching mode. "Taijutsu is one of the three main shinobi arts, along with ninjutsu and genjutsu. We won't be going over the latter too much unless you have a special affinity towards it, which I doubt."

Naruto was about to ask what genjutsus were, but Kakashi continued talking.

"Ok, we're gonna start with the academy style taijutsu," Kakashi stated.

"Huh? Why? I wanna learn a super awesome taijutsu style!" Naruto pouted.

"I thought about teaching you my style, but I decided against it." Kakashi replied.

"Why?" Naruto asked.

"Because the academy style taijutsu was created to give the best start for taijutsu students." Kakashi replied, knowledgeably. "It has a good range of different katas, with many involving speed, power and balance. It's the perfect teaching tool. Once you've perfected it, I'll teach you a different style, once I've assessed your body patterns."

Naruto couldn't argue with Kakashi's superior logic and so sulked.

"Don't sulk," Kakashi said. "Many people would give an arm to be in your position. Now, get up and get into this position." Kakashi demonstrated a fighting position with his left leg forward and bent at the knee, with his right leg trailing behind and both his arms in front of him just below shoulder's height. "This is the first position in academy style taijutsu, now try it."

Naruto got up and started unravelling the bandages which covered his sharingan eye.

"Wait," Kakashi said, stopping him from revealing his sharingan. "For the first couple of weeks, I want you to do the taijutsu part of the training with your left eye covered up. It's to help you get used to fighting with one eye covered, like me. Although, I'll expect you to always have it open when doing the ninjutsu parts. It'll help with chakra capacity and control. Now get into the stance."

Naruto set himself into the stance sloppily and waited for Kakashi to congratulate him on his awesomeness.

"Your stance is terrible," Kakashi said with an eye smile. "You'll never win a fight with a stance like that."

So for the next few hours, Kakashi corrected and remoulded Naruto's stance, forcing him to keep it up for long time periods. By the time it was 10 o'clock, Naruto was sweating, tired and annoyed from the lack of progress.

"We didn't do anything!" Naruto shouted. "We just wasted nearly three hours!"

"Mah, don't say that Naruto!" Kakashi rebuked. "You've made lots of progress; you just can't see it yet. Now, we'll move on to the chakra part of the training."

At this, Naruto's eyes lit up. Chakra meant ninjutsus, and ninjutsus meant super awesome ninjaness.

"Ok, now this is called the ram seal." Kakashi said, putting his hands into the seal. "This is often used to channel chakra. Chakra is the mixture of physical and spiritual energy, so when you channel it, you have to try and feel the two energies and mix them. This exercise will help me gauge your chakra capacity."

"What's a chakra capacity?" Naruto asked confused by what Kakashi had just explained.

"Ok, let me explain the difference between chakra capacity and chakra reserves. One's chakra reserves are the amount of chakra a person has inside them. Now I know your chakra reserves are easily surpassing that of a jounin's and most likely larger than that of the average kage." Kakashi flowed in his explanation. "But one's chakra capacity is the amount of chakra a person can use at a time. A person's chakra capacity is always smaller than their chakra reserves. Now, remembering what I said, channel your chakra."

Naruto was still confused about the whole explanation, but he decided to just try and channel his chakra anyway. He put his hands into the ram seal and started to concentrate really hard.

At first nothing happened and Kakashi was just about to tell him to relax a bit more, when suddenly a burst of raw chakra flowed from Naruto and he started to glow blue. The winds began picking up and Kakashi feared that Naruto might pass out from chakra exhaustion. So he quickly told him to stop channelling his chakra.

"Ok Naruto that's fine, but you can stop now!" Kakashi yelled over the winds.

Naruto calmed down and collapsed, tired from the ordeal.

"How was that?" Naruto asked, with sweat dripping from his brow.

"Well it was better than I thought it would be!" Kakashi said happily. "But try not to overdo it. You're still only six years old and there's no need to overexert yourself yet. That said, your capacity is about that of a low-level genin's; which, for your age, is incredible."

"So what are we doing now?" Naruto asked, still slightly panting.

"We're going to have you do a chakra control exercise for a few hours till lunchtime." Kakashi replied, pulling a leaf from a nearby tree.

"What's that for?" Naruto asked, inquisitively.

"This is gonna be the basis of your chakra control exercises." Kakashi said. "You're gonna be doing the leaf concentration exercise. Basically, you place this leaf on your forehead and apply chakra to keep it sticking to your head. Too little chakra and it won't stick. Too much and it'll fly off." Kakashi demonstrated.

Naruto took a leaf and placed it on his forehead. Channelling what he deemed the right amount of chakra into the leaf, it incinerated before his very eyes.

Shocked at his mistake, Naruto pouted at Kakashi's laughter.

"I can't believe you channelled enough chakra to incinerate the leaf!" Kakashi laughed. "It looks as though you're gonna be doing these control exercises for a very long period of time. Now get to it, or else no lunch."

For two or so hours, Naruto slaved away tirelessly at the leaf concentration exercise, eventually getting to the point where he could keep it on his forehead for a few seconds.

"Ok that's enough Naruto," Kakashi said, pulling him out of his concentration and causing the leaf to flutter to the ground. "It's time for lunch. You have to give your reserves time to build up again."

"Ne Kakashi nii-san," Naruto said. "What's lunch? Is it ramen?"

The look of expectance in his eyes was huge.

"No." Kakashi replied plainly. "Lunch is whatever you catch here." He pointed to the trees and bushes in the training ground. "But as you're tired and today is your first day, I'll get lunch. You rest."

Kakashi went into one of the bushes to find some food while Naruto sat down leaning on a tree. Kakashi returned a few minutes later with two rabbits in his hand. He silently set up the fire, skinned them and placed them on sticks to roast. As they ate, Kakashi explained what they would be doing next.

"As you know, I said ninjutsu is after lunch." Kakashi said, seeing Naruto light up in excitement. "But we're not doing that yet."

"What! Why?" Naruto demanded in outrage. "I've worked my butt off so that I could learn ninjutsu!"

"Well you're chakra control is so bad that you would have a lot of trouble learning whatever I were to try to teach you." Kakashi replied with an eye smile. "So you'll be doing meditation exercises mixed in with some chakra control. But don't worry. It's not gonna be like this forever, just for a short while, until your good enough to learn ninjutsu at a tolerable rate. Now finish your food and we'll start on the meditation."

Naruto contemplated the pros and cons of attacking Kakashi right now, but decided it would be worse in the end. So he grumbled and finished his food, waiting for Kakashi to begin the undoubtedly boring lecture.

"Ok, meditation is a good way to learn about yourself and, when done with chakra control exercises, is really good for your chakra. The main aim of meditation is to feel your energy and to feel you yourself. Try sitting in the lotus position and just try emptying your mind of anything and everything."

Naruto sat down in the shadow of a tree and began trying to empty his mind of everything. But each time he tried, he would get distracted by something.

"Argh! This is stupid!" Naruto shouted in disgust. "This isn't working at all!"

"You're just not used to it yet," Kakashi said, knowing Naruto's personality. "You're too hyperactive at the moment. But don't worry; you'll eventually be calm like me. We'll just have to schedule some meditation every day." Kakashi said with a glint in his eye.

"You're just saying that because you want to read your super awesome book while I'm slaving away doing this boring thing!" Naruto shouted.

"Ah! You've reminded me!" Kakashi said happily. "If you get to a decent level by dinner time, I'll start teaching you to read tonight."

That was enough to motivate Naruto and he flung himself fulltime into the meditation exercise, while placing a leaf on his forehead to help him concentrate.

After five hours of boring meditation, Naruto was able to keep the leaf stuck to his head for over one minute and his hunger was evident.

"Well you've done pretty well Naruto!" Kakashi stated as he smiled through his face mask. "If you keep this up, you'll be Hokage in no time!"

"Really? Thanks nii-san!" Naruto said grinning. "I guess that means ramen's on you tonight!"

"Hmm...? Did you say something Naruto?" Kakashi asked while he whipped out his trusty book.

"Stingy!" Naruto cried.

XXXXXXXXXX

After a meal at Ichiraku ramen for a treat, Kakashi and Naruto headed home to begin the more studious part of Naruto's shinobi training.

"Ok Naruto," Kakashi said while dumping some heavy looking books in front of him. "I'm going to teach you to read. Then you too can enjoy the lovely works of Icha Icha books."

There was a blinding glint in Naruto's opened eye which made Kakashi almost shed a tear for joy at Naruto's love of Icha Icha (he is very blinded when it comes to Icha Icha).

"Apart from teaching you to read, I'll also teach you about history, math, politics and other such important topics for a shinobi." Naruto paled at the information. "Come on now, if you wanna be Hokage, you have to be a diplomat. So you'll need to learn all of this."

Naruto was torn between his hate for all of academia and his love for the Hokage position.

"Oh and I'll teach you how to draw." Kakashi continued. "It'll be good for you instead of all that pranking. You'll finally be able to express yourself in a way that doesn't annoy people."

"How does drawing help me become Hokage?" Naruto asked confused.

"How does pranking help you become Hokage?" Kakashi replied.

"Good point." Naruto said.

"Now," Kakashi continued. "This is an 'A'. It's pronounced 'ah'."

XXXXXXXXXX

Over the next two and a half years, Kakashi drilled Naruto on all of the shinobi aspects while forcing him to understand the theory behind each of them.

Naruto grew in leaps and bounds due to the concentrated one on one teaching and was looking forward to when he would join the academy so that he could hurry up and become an amazing ninja like his nii-san.

But of course Kakashi couldn't stay with Naruto every single day training him, so whenever he was on a mission, he would pull in some favours and get some friends to babysit Naruto.

XXXXXXXXXX

"Yosh! My eternal rival has an apprentice!" Maito Gai bellowed at the top of his voice. "How youthful! Come and let's enjoy the springtime of youth together!"

Gai leapt away leaving a stunned and in awe Naruto to watch his back.

"_He's so cool!"_ Naruto thought. _"But his eyebrows are a bit weird..."_

By the time Naruto and Gai had finished the Spartan warm up, Naruto was left lying in a pile on the floor begging for mercy.

"Come now!" Gai shouted, not even slightly tired. "There's no time to rest! Let's not waste our youth!"

Naruto groaned and dragged himself up from the floor, cursing the green man for his never ending energy.

"Ok!" Gai continued. "My un-youthful rival, Kakashi, has asked me to teach you for the few days he's away on this mission as I lost the last competition between us. But do not worry Naruto, for I, Konoha's Sublime Green Beast, shall win the next competition and restore my youthfulness!" Gai finished in a nice-guy pose with his teeth shining.

Naruto was once again in awe of how cool Gai was.

"Wow Gai-sensei! You're so cool!" Naruto shouted.

"Thank you Naruto!" Gai replied. "So, Kakashi tells me that you are still having trouble with one of the last katas in the Academy-style taijutsu. Show me." Gai said, entering his teaching mode.

Naruto settled into his stance and began the flow of punches and kicks, but as he neared the end of the kata, he slipped and fell on his face.

"I see." Gai commented. "You are currently over extending your right leg. This is putting you off balance. Do not worry though my youthful student! For I, Maito Gai, shall correct this mistake!" Gai once again entered his nice-guy pose.

"Oh thank you Gai-sensei!" Naruto shouted with stars in his eyes.

"Oh Naruto!"

"Gai-sensei!"

"Naruto!"

They embraced in a show of youthfulness under a sunset, as crashing waves could be seen and heard in the background.

Gai continued to teach Naruto and refine his taijutsu for the next week and eventually had Naruto to the point of nearly mastering the Academy-style taijutsu.

"Oh Naruto!" Gai said on his last day of teaching him. "You have been a most youthful student! So as a parting gift, I give you this!"

Gai held an ugly looking green spandex jumpsuit with orange leg warmers.

"Thank you Gai-sensei!" Naruto shouted with tears in his eyes.

"Oh Naruto!" Gai shouted.

"Gai-sensei!"

"Naruto!"

They embraced under the setting sun for the last time that week and Gai bid Naruto a farewell.

XXXXXXXXXX

When Kakashi returned from his week-long mission, he was tired and was looking forward to seeing Naruto again.

As he entered the house, he could hear the sound of Naruto counting in a loud voice.

"_Hmm... that's odd. I thought I had cured him of his loud brashness."_ Kakashi thought.

"Hello Naru-" Kakashi froze at the sight that met him.

There in the middle of the living room floor was Naruto engaged in press-ups as he was counting the number he had reached. Now, normally, this wouldn't have shocked Kakashi, but it was what he was wearing that nearly sent Kakashi into a coma.

"Ah! Kakashi nii-san! Welcome back! I've just been enjoying this youthful day by exercising! Gai-sensei left not too long ago!" Naruto exclaimed as he entered the nice-guy pose.

"Shit." Kakashi said simply. "Don't joke around Naruto. Get out of that monstrosity and let's have dinner. I'm hungry and that's not funny.

"Do not be so un-youthful Kakashi nii-san!" Naruto said with a frown on his face. "Gai-sensei gave these clothes to me as a gift and I intend to uphold his youthfulness!"

"_I'm gonna kill Gai."_ Kakashi thought. "Naruto, get out of those clothes and into sane clothing right now or you'll never see the light of day again!"

Naruto gulped. He didn't want to upset his nii-san, but he also didn't want to upset Gai-sensei.

"But-" Naruto tried lamely.

"No buts!" Kakashi stopped him. "It's either you get out of those clothes, or you'll never eat ramen again!"

That did it for Naruto. As much as he loved Gai-sensei and his youthfulness, he couldn't go against his life-long friend.

"Fine." Naruto said sulking. "But this is very un-youthful of you Kakashi nii-san."

"Oh and another thing." Kakashi continued. "If I ever hear you say anything to do with youth again, I'll make sure that you won't be able to eat anything, let alone ramen."

Naruto looked as though he had swallowed a lemon and quickly left the room and hurried to his bedroom.

It took Kakashi a few weeks to rid Naruto of his bad habits which he had acquired from Gai and he estimated that he had been set back a few months in relation to Naruto's behaviour. Before Gai had come along, Naruto was beginning to become calmer and Gai had completely destroyed Kakashi's efforts.

It would take a few more months for Naruto to return back to the stage at which he was at.

XXXXXXXXXX

A seven year old Naruto could be seen sprinting through the trees in his favourite training ground, visibly out of breath.

"_I've got to get away!"_ He thought in terror.

He almost thought he would make it all the way back to the house without any incident, when his assailant landed right in front of him.

Tripping up and landing lamely on his back, Naruto's eyes went to the appearance of the demon in front of him. Tracing up its body, Naruto's eyes took in the sandaled feet and shin guards which adorned the long bare legs; legs which led up to a very short yellow miniskirt. Continuing upwards, Naruto's eyes met a torso covered by nothing but a very see-through mesh body suit. Finishing it off was a large tan coloured overcoat.

Naruto fought to hold back a blush, but failed. He had been reading the Icha Icha series for a few weeks now and it had opened his eyes to many things which a seven year old's eyes shouldn't have been opened to.

"Oh Naruto-kun!" Anko chirped. "Surely you don't mean to run away from _me_?" She finished the sentence by leaning forward to show even more cleavage than Naruto thought possible.

"Get away you crazy bitch!" Naruto screamed; his despair in full force again.

Anko frowned. She didn't like being called a bitch as it reminded her of the people of Konoha and their hate towards her.

"Get up." She said without a hint of warmth. "I hate babysitting brats like you. You're lucky I owed Kakashi such a big favour or else I would have my snakes eat you alive. Now come on, we haven't finished with your survival training."

She hog-tied Naruto and led him into the bushes once more as the sounds of pleading and screams of bloody murder could be heard.

XXXXXXXXXX

"Yo." Kakashi said as he entered the house. "Sorry I'm late. I had to run some errands for the Hokage."

When Kakashi heard no reply, he started to worry and rushed into the living room. There, he saw Naruto huddled in a corner, whispering to himself.

"Um... are you ok Naruto?"

"Please! Anko-sama! No more snakes!" Naruto cried out in despair.

"_Hmm... in retrospect, maybe asking Anko was a bad idea..."_ Kakashi thought. _"Oh well, at least he's more polite."_

XXXXXXXXXX

"*cough* Ok Naruto *cough*" Hayate coughed out. "That's *cough* enough for today."

Naruto dropped the wooden practise katana in his hands and wiped the sweat from his brow.

"Thanks Hayate-sensei." Naruto smiled. "Sparring with you is always fun."

"It's interesting *cough* you know." Hayate said trying but failing to hold his cough in. "You're not *cough* bad with a katana, but *cough* it seems as though your taijutsu style *cough* is more geared towards a tanto. You should ask Kakashi about it *cough*. He's better than I am at using a tanto."

"Ok, thanks Hayate-sensei." Naruto said. "I will. But y'know... you should probably check that cough out."

XXXXXXXXXX

"Ne Kakashi nii-san," Naruto said. "I wanna learn to use a tanto."

"Hmm... what brought this about?" Kakashi asked.

"Hayate-sensei said that it would go well with my taijutsu style."

"Well I guess so." Kakashi said while smiling. "My dad Hatake Sakumo used to use a tanto which emitted a white light when he pushed his chakra through it. It was why he got the name 'Konoha's White Fang'. You're learning his taijutsu style so it would make sense. I'll see if I can get you one tomorrow."

"Wow thanks Kakashi nii-san!" Naruto said while hugging him.

"No problem." Kakashi replied with a smile. "Now, pop quiz. How many Kazekage's have there been in Suna up till now?"

"Hmm..." Naruto thought for a moment, trying to remember Kakashi's stories. "Four?"

"Correct." Kakashi said happily. "Which of them had the **Satetsu** (Iron Sand) kekkei genkai?"

"The Sandaime Kazekage." Naruto said confidently. He had really enjoyed hearing that story about how the Sandaime Kazekage could turn his chakra into a magnetic field and control all metals on the battle field.

"Correct." Kakashi said happily again. "You're getting better at this Naruto. Now how about you show me how you're getting on with the **fuuton: daitoppa** (wind release: great breakthrough)?"

As Kakashi led Naruto to the training ground, he thought about Naruto's growth. He knew that Naruto was around a low-level genin's level right now. That meant that he would have to send him to the Academy soon.

He had been talking with the Sandaime and he also agreed that it was probably time for Naruto to join the Academy. He was eight years old and most children enrol in the Academy on their sixth birthday. That meant that Naruto would have to start the Academy next year, when he'll be eight and a half.

Kakashi didn't really mind when Naruto joined the Academy and became a ninja, but he thought that it would probably be better for him to do it sooner than later.

Maybe he would sign Naruto up tomorrow when he goes to get the tanto.

"Kakashi nii-san, hurry up!" Naruto said from a few metres in front.

Kakashi sighed and walked up to spend a few hours perfecting Naruto's ninjutsu again.

XXXXXXXXXX

**Author's Note:** Well there's chapter 3 of Konoha's Yellow Fang.

This was a fun chapter to write and there was lots happening in it as well.

We had Kakashi and his little (or big) training regime with Naruto.

We had Naruto's interactions with Gai-sensei, Anko and Hayate. All of whom have shaped Naruto's personality and behaviour.

We've also had a small time skip to Naruto at eight years old. Next chapter will be Naruto when he's eight and a half and about to start the Academy.

Thanks again for all your reviews! They really keep me going when it gets tough to write each chapter. Hope you all enjoyed it and please, please, please review! It makes me write more!

See ya soon! Ja ne!


	4. Academy Life

**Disclaimer: ** Masashi Kishimoto is the creator of Naruto. The only things which I own are my original characters and the plot.

**Author's Note:** Well I finally managed to get chapter 4 done.

**Konoha's Yellow Fang**

_Chapter 4: Academy Life_

The sound of metal clashing on metal resonated through the trees in the training ground as the two combatants fought for dominance amidst the flora and fauna. With a final clash, the two separated from their endless struggle and landed in the clearing.

Naruto was panting hard. He stood watching the opponent in front of him; his equal in every way. The fight had been ongoing for almost twenty minutes and Naruto could tell that both of them were showing signs of wearing. Squaring his shoulders, Naruto called out to his rival.

"This is gonna be the last attack. Get ready."

Gripping his tanto, Naruto charged forward, closing down the gap between his kage bunshin and himself. Just as he slashed at its neck, it leaned backwards, avoiding the attack completely. The kage bunshin then retaliated with a kick to Naruto's head which was swiftly dodged. Giving Naruto no time to recover, the clone aimed a punch at his head, intending to end the fight.

Seeing no alternative choice, Naruto opened his left eye revealing his sharingan. Immediately, the world slowed down enough for Naruto to raise his hand and grip the incoming attack. Keeping the clone's fist in a vice-like hold, Naruto jerked it towards himself and, with his tanto in a reverse grip, plunged the blade into the clone's shoulder. With a cloud of smoke, the kage bunshin disappeared, effectively ending the match.

"Well done Naruto," Kakashi said. "But I thought I told you not to use the sharingan in this match."

Leaping off the tree branch he was sitting on, Kakashi landed softly on the worn grass and strolled towards a tired Naruto.

"Well you see, I was getting tired, so I wanted to end the match quickly." Naruto replied.

"That's a terrible excuse," Kakashi commented. "I'm quite proud of you."

Naruto beamed, but was given a quick bonk on the head.

"I'm proud of you, but you still went against my orders." Kakashi said.

"It's not like it makes a huge difference!" Naruto said. "I've still only got one tomoe in my eye."

"Hmm, that is a bit odd. Usually after two years of training, you'd go up at least one level. Maybe you just need some good old life-or-death moments. They're always refreshing." Kakashi said with an eye smile.

"Yeah but I actually need to be a ninja to have missions where I get that kind of experience!" Naruto shot back.

"Ah, that reminds me, I talked to Hokage-sama a while ago and he agreed that it's probably the right time for you to attend the Academy."

"Are you serious?" Naruto exclaimed, completely forgetting his previous ire. "Thanks Kakashi nii-san!"

"No problem," Kakashi replied. "Besides, all this training would be wasted if you didn't become a ninja."

"When do I start?" Naruto asked.

"Tomorrow," Kakashi replied as they started walking back to the house. "Hokage-sama has done all the paperwork. You'll be making friends and breaking bones in no time."

XXXXXXXXXX

Reaching the house, Naruto rushed upstairs to take a bath, while Kakashi went to prepare dinner.

Shrugging of his clothes unceremoniously Naruto collapsed into the warm water as his muscles started relaxing and repairing themselves.

_I can't believe I'm finally going to the Academy!_ Naruto thought in excitement. _Now I can finally become a ninja!_

As he relaxed further, he thought about the new friends he would make. While he knew that he had found friends in people like Gai-sensei, Hayate-sensei and (as much as he didn't want to admit it) Anko-sensei, they weren't in his age group. He was finally going to meet people his age.

_I wonder what they'll be like!_ He thought in excitement.

XXXXXXXXXX

Quickly finishing his bath and changing, Naruto rushed downstairs for dinner.

Finding sushi on the table, Naruto frowned slightly. As much as he wanted ramen, he wouldn't let a bit of raw fish on rice ruin his good mood. Sitting down, Naruto began eating while asking Kakashi about the Academy.

"So," Naruto started with the sushi still in his mouth. "What's the Academy like?"

"Don't talk with your mouth full," Kakashi admonished Naruto, who then frowned at him. "Anyway, the Academy's fine and all, but don't expect it to be an amazingly fun place. You're not gonna be learning anything higher than what I've taught you. So don't get your hopes up."

"What d'you mean? I thought you're taught to be a ninja at the Academy..."

"Oh, don't get me wrong," Kakashi said, a smirk beginning to form on his lips. "Everyone is taught how to be a ninja, just not as thoroughly as you think."

A feeling in Naruto's gut was telling him that something was wrong, but he pushed it to the back of his mind. Stupid Kakashi nii-san was probably just trying to get him nervous – it wouldn't be the first time he's done it.

"Yeah, yeah," Naruto said, with scepticism clearly in his voice. "Whatever you say nii-san."

"Well don't say I didn't warn you," Kakashi replied. "Now, before you go to bed, how about a match of shogi?"

Naruto groaned.

XXXXXXXXXX

Waking up early in excitement, Naruto hurriedly cleaned and dressed himself and rushed down the stairs. There, sitting at the table with a mug of coffee in his hand was Kakashi.

"Good morning Naruto, you're up pretty early. Are you excited?"

"Hell yeah!" Naruto shouted, pumping a fist in the air. "It's gonna be great. I'm gonna make lotsa new friends and we'll all be awesome ninja!"

Sitting down, Naruto ate breakfast at an inhuman speed. It wasn't as good as ramen, but let's be honest, what is? He wanted to leave the house with plenty of time to spear so that he could have a gentle stroll to school. After all, he didn't want to waste his energy before he reached school.

"Thanks nii-san!" Naruto said, standing up from the table. "It was great. I'll see ya later!"

Naruto was just about to rush out of the house before Kakashi stopped him.

"Naruto, wait! There're a couple of things I forgot to tell you. They're pretty important actually."

"Oh? Well hurry up, I don't have much time. I wanna get there early so I can make friends."

"Yeah about that," Kakashi said. "You're not gonna be starting the Academy with the people your age."

"What!" Naruto shouted in disbelief. "I don't wanna go with people two years below! They'll be terrible and all wimpy!"

"Hokage-sama thought the same thing," Kakashi said. "Yours is a special case. You'll be joining the last year of the Academy. Hokage-sama and the council think that with your training, there's no point in you wasting more years before you become a ninja. I'm not so sure about it. I don't want you to become a ninja so soon. People will start throwing terms like "little Itachi" at you, amongst others."

"You mean I'll be taking the same classes as the twelve year old guys?" Naruto asked, to which Kakashi nodded. "But I'm only eight years old! What if I'm not good enough?"

Kakashi almost choked at that. The thought of Naruto not being good enough to be in the Academy was a complete joke to him.

"Trust me Naruto, you'll do fine. In fact, you'll d excellently, I'm sure of it. Besides, you're almost nine years old. When I was your age, I was already a chuunin and Itachi had mastered his sharingan, although he was still only a genin. If you don't become a ninja soon, then you'll never catch up with Itachi and me."

"I don't want to be anything like that murderer." Naruto said darkly.

"True, but you want to be like me, so either way, you have to try harder. I know you've got a good work ethic, so you can storm through this year."

"Fine, whatever." Naruto said, clearly still upset about the Itachi reference.

"Oh and a couple other things," Kakashi said, stopping Naruto from leaving. "You have to cover up your sharingan and you're not allowed to take your tanto to the Academy."

"What! Why?"

"Think about it. The details of the Uchiha massacre are still widely unknown in the populace. People only know that Itachi killed his whole clan. If they found out that you somehow gained the sharingan, what do you think the reaction of the people would be?"

Naruto frowned. He knew that he wasn't popular in the village so he could imagine the uproar.

"As for your tanto," Kakashi continued. "Using it in the Academy is unnecessary. You're not going to get any extra credit for it. Kenjutsu of any kind is not part of the syllabus, although it probably should be. Besides, you don't want to give away you're element of surprise, do you?"

"I guess not..." Naruto said. "But I still don't like it."

"You'll get used to it. Here," Kakashi said, handing Naruto a headband. "This'll cover the up sharingan. Don't forget not to use it."

"Yeah, yeah," Naruto said dismissively. "Whatever you say. I'll see ya later."

Rushing out of the house to avoid any more news, Naruto started walking to the Academy in anticipation of his soon to be adventures.

XXXXXXXXXX

The streets of Konoha were definitely not Naruto's favourite place to be.

Although the villagers mostly kept to themselves and ignored him, the hateful undercurrent could definitely be felt.

Walking down the streets, Naruto could see the side glances. The loathing filled the atmosphere and he started to hurry to get to the Academy.

The Sandaime's Law in respect to the Kyuubi meant that any person who disclosed information about it being sealed in Naruto would be swiftly executed. This, though, did not stop the adults from attempting to ostracise the boy. They would tell their children to be cautious of Naruto; to avoid him; to loathe him. Thus the hatred carried onto the next generation, although the original reason was lost.

Grimacing from one particularly hateful glance, Naruto started a brisk jog to the Academy.

_At this pace, I'll get there in about three minutes._ He thought. _I'll get there just in time for registration._

Trying to lift his spirits, Naruto continued jogging until he approached the Academy.

XXXXXXXXXX

Hyuuga Ko stared at the other kids who were talking loudly in the classroom. Sitting at the back of the room meant he could not only survey everyone from his elevated position, but, in his eyes, it also showed his position as the best in the class.

Whether or not he was actually the best was debatable. No doubt he was near the top in respect to overall strength in the rankings, but it was his position as a member of the Hyuuga clan that made people acknowledge him as the best.

Of course there were those who thoroughly deserved a mention in his class: Inuzuka Hana with her Haimaru triplets, Yuhi Hanada and Yamanaka Inoko amongst others. While these three were gifted in their respective areas, they did not match the same prowess which Ko showed; or at least he thought so.

Slumping in his chair, he closed his eyes in fatigue due to the training which he had been through with his family until late the night before.

For Ko, being a member of the main branch had many benefits. Apart from the attention, there were the advanced techniques which were reserved for the main branch only. The respect he received was also addictive, but it was all meaningless for him.

When he was young, Ko had witnessed a main branch Hyuuga activating the caged bird seal on one of the branch house Hyuuga.

_Flashback_

_The man was sprawled on the floor clutching his head as though, by some twisted logic, it would lessen the immense pain which he was being put through._

_The man, who was from the branch house, was being punished for disobedience. The truth was his wife was in hospital with a case of fatal kekkei genkai rejection syndrome – her entire body was rejecting the Byakugan. The illness was not common at all, but can be found in any owner of a kekkei genkai._

_The stress which the man had been through, on top of the difficult tasks which the main branch house elder was asking of him, caused the man to answer with a slight sarcasm in his voice. Enraged, the elder immediately activated the caged bird seal, immediately disabling the man._

_Unknown to either man was a young boy who had been watching the entire encounter from a crack in the door. Ko watched in horror as the man's mind was slowly minced as the elder's jutsu continued._

_Eventually, the man stopped writhing in pain and Ko ran out, his heart pounding and his mind mentally taxed._

_Flashback End_

Ko knew that it was necessary to protect the Byakugan from those who might want to steal it, but he believed that there must have been be a better way of doing it which didn't involve segregation based on when one was born.

He vowed that he would find the answer, so that no Hyuuga would have to die needlessly again.

Realising that he must have fallen asleep as some chuunin was already in the room reading out the register, Ko straightened up and answered his name.

Once the register was complete, Iruka addressed the whole class.

"Good morning everyone," He said cheerfully. Unfortunately, the children weren't as enthusiastic as he was. "My name is Umino Iruka and as your previous sensei has retired, I will be you're sensei for the year. I'm only eighteen years old and this is my first class, so if you treat me with respect, I'll do the same to you."

Iruka was met with bored and uninterested looks from the entire class. This was not how he imagined the situation going. Not to be put off, he continued.

"Now, we have a new student to join us," Iruka said, picking up the register sheet to read of the name. "So please give a warm welcome to... Uzumaki Naruto."

Iruka tried to suppress his frown. He had a talk with the Hokage a few days before in regards to Naruto. Iruka knew that the Kyuubi was sealed away inside Naruto and so in his eyes, Naruto was directly linked with the monster which killed his parents. He agreed to try to teach the boy as equally as possible, but it would definitely be a strain.

XXXXXXXXXX

Naruto was nervous as he waited for Iruka-sensei to call him into the room. These were the people he would spend a whole year with. The people he would risk his life with.

Hearing his cue and taking a deep breath, Naruto walked into the room and was met by 26 sets of eyes and a loud voice.

"But he's only a kid!" the voice exclaimed in disbelief.

To everyone's shock, it was Ko. Now Ko was, by no means, an average Hyuuga. He spoke his mind, he didn't believe in using his status as a way to get benefits, nor did he believe wholeheartedly in fate. But this did not mean that he wasn't reasonably reserved, which is why the other students were quite shocked.

Well on his way to adopting Kakashi's laid-back attitude, not much got on Naruto's nerves. The few things which still annoyed him were: those who ridiculed his height; those who ridiculed his age and not having ramen for two weeks straight. Needless to say, Naruto was annoyed by Ko's statement.

"You're only a kid as well." Naruto replied trying to keep calm like Kakashi nii-san said.

If the students were surprised with Ko's outburst, they were astounded by Naruto's reply. Didn't the small new kid know that Ko was a Hyuuga main branch?

Sensing the tension in the air, Iruka quickly diffused the situation.

"Well I'm glad that you're already making a friend Naruto," he said. "Now, why don't you go and sit in that seat by the window, next to Yuhi Hanada. Wave your hand at him Hanada."

A girl with long black hair and red eyes sitting near the middle of the room waved at him, beckoning him to sit down.

"Hey," she said in greeting. "Welcome to the Academy. My one piece of advice for you: try and have fun whenever you can, 'cause there's no way you'll have any fun in these lessons."

"Thanks," Naruto replied with a smile. "To be honest, I'm kinda nervous. I wanna know what sort of stuff to expect. This is gonna be exciting."

"Yeah well don't hold your breath," Hanada said, grinning at him. "This classroom is the most boring place in all of the elemental countries."

Hanada laughed while Naruto looked confused.

_How can becoming a ninja and learning cool new stuff be boring?_ He wondered in bewilderment.

"By the way," Hanada continued. "How old are you?"

"Well I'm eight years old now, but I'll be nine in a couple of months."

"I don't get it," Hanada said frowning. "If you're so young, you should be in the class about four years down. How come you're with us?"

Before Naruto could think of an answer, Iruka-sensei began his lecture.

"Ok class," He began. "Let's open our textbooks to page 17. We'll begin by reviewing the founding of this village by Shodaime-sama. Who wants to start reading?"

_What's this gotta do with being a ninja?_ Naruto wondered to himself.

XXXXXXXXXX

It was lunch time and the field was scattered with children of various ages, swapping food which their parents prepared for them, while talking amicably with each other.

One group of children consisted of a few girls sitting in the shade of a tall tree.

"Hey girls," the blonde girl said enthusiastically. "Have you heard? Apparently some new guy just joined the last year in the Academy!"

"So?" one girl asked. "What's so amazing about some guy in the last year?"

"Apparently," the blonde girl continued. "He's only eight years old."

"That's a lie! If you can't come up with good gossip, then don't just make stuff up!"

"Ano..." one girl spoke up hesitantly. "I heard the same thing... from my father."

All of the girls were shocked. Hinata didn't usually lie. Ino was a given when it came to lying, but Hinata was too good to lie.

"But, they don't usually let people move up a class, let alone graduate four years early." This time it was a pink haired girl.

"Apparently he's really mysterious!" Ino continued, completely into the story. "He wears a face mask that goes up to his nose and apparently he covers up his left eye with a headband!"

"Really?" Sakura asked, her interest peaking. "What's his name?"

"Uzumaki Naruto!" Ino concluded.

Immediately, all the girls froze. They had heard from their parents that the Uzumaki boy was dangerous and that they should avoid him. They didn't know the reason behind it, but if their parents said it, there must be a valid reason.

"I'm not allowed to be with him," Sakura said, hesitantly. "My parents said he's trouble."

Most of the other girls nodded their heads in agreement. It was well known that Uzumaki Naruto was infamous in the village.

"Why aren't we allowed to talk to him?" Hinata asked, but immediately regretted the question as all attention was on her. "Ano... I mean, our parents just told us to be cautious around him."

"I agree with Hinata!" Ino exclaimed. "If he's as cool as he sounds, then we should talk to him!"

Hinata blushed. That wasn't really what she was saying, but if she got praised, then she didn't mind.

"But what about Sasuke-kun?" Sakura asked, confused in regards to the whole situation. She wanted to see this Naruto boy, but she didn't want to disobey her parent's orders.

Immediately the discussion turned to the different boys in their class and the conversation went on a tangent from there on after.

XXXXXXXXXX

Not ten metres away from the girls were the boys in the same year.

"You guys hear that?" A boy with a dog lying next to him asked. "Some eight year old kid's gonna graduate at the end of the year. They're probably gonna move me up as well."

"That is unlikely," A boy with a high collar-neck coat and sunglasses replied. "Why? It is because you placed close to bottom this morning in the taijutsu rankings."

The boy with the dog growled and was about to attack the other boy, when a third boy spoke up.

"Don't be upset Kiba," The fat boy said while munching on his substantial lunch. "I didn't do that well *munch* in the taijutsu either."

"That's 'cause you're so f-"Kiba was stopped by another boy with pineapple shaped hair before he could finish his sentence.

"Ugh... You're all too troublesome." The boy said as he lay down on the ground, watching the clouds move past. "I feel sorry for that other guy. If it were me, I would ask to be moved down."

"That's just 'cause you're a lazy ass, Shikamaru!" Kiba said in ire. "You'll see! They're gonna move me up tomorrow!"

"I doubt that." Shino said, while pushing his sunglasses up. "But this boy does intrigue me. Why? It is because there have been few, if any, children to graduate at that sort of age. The only ones who come to mind are Hatake Kakashi and Uchiha Itachi - both of who are now very dangerous, but very different people."

A metre or so away from the boys, in the shadow of a tall tree, was a dark haired boy eating alone who, when he heard Shino's words, was frozen to his core.

_This boy is like that man!_ He thought in despair. _I have to meet him and find out how he got his power._

Making up his mind to confront the boy after school, the dark haired boy finished his lunch and prepared to head back into the classroom.

XXXXXXXXXX

Naruto was annoyed. In fact, he was almost infuriated.

Firstly, the Academy which he had geared his hopes towards as being the most amazing thing to ever happen to his life was the dullest thing to happen in his life. The math and science lessons were mind numbing. The history lessons were listless compared to Kakashi nii-san's stories. The taijutsu and ninjutsu practice were lowered to such a basic level, that he thought he might be degrading in ability.

Secondly, through the whole day, Hyuuga Ko had made every single task they had to do a competition. Now, Naruto didn't mind competitions but there was a point when they became obsessive and monotonous.

Thirdly and probably the thing that had gotten him the most annoyed, was the group, or groups, of first years that were currently following him home. He knew that he would get some attention due to being in a year much older than he should be, but this was crazy!

Deciding to do something about the whole situation, Naruto stopped and prepared to confront the two groups.

XXXXXXXXXX

The girls had been following Naruto for a few minutes and were currently in the bushes collecting 'data' on him.

"Ano... I don't think we should be doing this, Ino..." Hinata said. "He might not like it if he knows we're stalking him..."

"Bah, He doesn't know!" Ino said, in a hushed voice. "Besides, we're not stalking him; we're just collecting data on him, before we decide what kind of person he is! See? It's simple!"

"Well I don't know about you girls," another girl with brown hair said. "But I _am_ stalking him! He's _so_ mysterious! I just wanna know what's under that mask and that headband!"

"Shut up Amy!" Ino said, destroying all efforts at any kind of stealth. "I saw him first!"

"Shh!" Sakura said in panic. "He's stopped!"

XXXXXXXXXX

"Ugh... this is so troublesome." Shikamaru said in a mantra-like way. "Why are we stalking some senior student, Kiba?"

"Yeah," the chubby boy agreed, while munching on his packet of chips. "It's not very polite. I wouldn't be happy if *munch* some people were stalking me."

"Look Chouji," Kiba said in exasperation. "We're _following_ this guy, 'cause I saw Sasuke following him. I think the idiot wants to talk him."

"It is truly irrational for Sasuke to be acting like this," Shino said in contemplation. "Why? He usually has a calm personality. Something must have triggered this response."

"Yeah well whatever it is, we're about to find out!" Kiba said in excitement. "The guy's just stopped and Sasuke just jumped out!"

XXXXXXXXXX

Before Naruto could shout for them to come out of their hiding places, one dark haired boy in a blue shirt and white shorts jumped out of a bush and landed in front of him.

"Um... hi?" Naruto said in confusion.

"What makes you so strong?" Sasuke asked bluntly.

"Y'know... it's kinda rude to ask for something from someone before introducing yourself..." Naruto said in irritation. "Who are you?"

"Uchiha Sasuke." The boy replied defiantly.

Naruto' eyes widened. This was the boy that Itachi spared; his very own brother. He wondered what the boy wanted with him.

"I'm Uzumaki Naruto," Naruto replied. "What d'you want?"

"What makes you so strong?" Sasuke asked once again.

"I'm not that strong," Naruto responded. "Kakashi nii-san is strong. I'm nowhere near his level. When I'm his level, then I'll be strong."

"You're going to be graduating after just one year at the Academy. Not many people do that. What makes you so strong? I need that power."

Naruto didn't quite understand. He understood to the point that Sasuke wanted power to do something, but he couldn't quite tell what.

"Well," Naruto said. "I train quite hard every day. I guess that must help."

"I train very hard every day. What makes you so different?" Sasuke asked as his anger culminated.

"Hmm..." Naruto thought while putting a finger on his chin. "I dunno."

Infuriated, Sasuke pounced forward. He expected Naruto to dodge the incoming fist and try to retaliate. He wanted to find the answer to Naruto's power in this fight.

Naruto, even though he was slightly surprised, caught the incoming fist and redirected Sasuke away from him. Not to be outdone, Sasuke continued his relentless onslaught, hoping to either land a hit, or find out the secret to Naruto's power; whichever came first.

Grabbing one of Sasuke's kicks to his head, Naruto pulled Sasuke up by his legs and held him in front of himself. Sasuke then twirled and, with his hand, tried to claw at Naruto's face. Turning his head slightly to the right, Naruto avoided the attack, but to his surprise, his headband fell off, revealing his sharingan eye.

XXXXXXXXXX

"Oh my Gosh!" Amy screamed. "His headband came off! What's underneath?"

"I can't see!" Ino complained. "He's facing the other way!"

XXXXXXXXXX

"Shit!" Kiba swore. "Can any of you see what's underneath?"

"Unfortunately not," Shino answered. "Why? It is because I am not in a prime position."

"Ugh... how troublesome..." Shikamaru sighed.

XXXXXXXXXX

"Oops!" Naruto said, while picking up his headband and fixing it back on. "That was fun; we should do it again sometime. But don't tell anyone what you saw!"

Sasuke looked shell shocked. He had seen what was underneath the headband – the Sharingan. It was impossible. Only Uchiha can have the sharingan eye. So how did that boy get it? He frowned and picked himself up. If he was going to find out, he would have to be much stronger – he couldn't beat that boy let alone _that_ man if he wasn't stronger. He would have to train harder.

"Oh," Naruto said as he slowed down. "Tell your friends not to stalk me anymore. It's annoying and rude."

All of the children were shocked. Their stealth had been perfect (or so they thought) and yet the boy had easily seen through them. In their eyes, he was so cool.

XXXXXXXXXX

Arriving at the house, Naruto entered in an annoyed mood, but felt slightly better due to releasing much of his anger in the fight with that Sasuke boy. Seeing Kakashi sitting on the couch reading his Icha Icha book, Naruto marched up and stood in front of him.

"Ah, hello Naruto," Kakashi began. "How was your first day at the Academy?"

"It was shit." Naruto replied bluntly.

"Well what did you expect?" Kakashi asked with the amusement clearly in his voice. "You're all only kids, so you need to be taught the basics before you can get all of the cool stuff."

"Yeah but it was terrible." Naruto said with anger in his voice. "Who the hell can't do the bunshin, kawarimi or the henge!"

"Naruto... you can't do the bunshin..." Kakashi said with a sweat drop on his face.

"Yeah, but I can do the Kage bunshin which is miles cooler!" Naruto replied petulantly.

"Naruto, you've got to learn that not all of your comrades have had two years of condensed training like you have. In fact, some don't even have relatives who are ninja."

"I didn't think of that..." Naruto said, feeling bad about himself.

"Don't be hard on yourself." Kakashi said. "Just remember that you're a special case. Oh and don't think you know it all. You still only know a couple of jutsus; you're a long way off before you can say you're truly strong."

"Hmm? Sorry did you say something?" Naruto asked nonchalantly.

"No nothing much." Kakashi replied just as indifferently.

Slightly put off by Kakashi's lack of reaction to his one-liner, Naruto went upstairs to get ready for dinner.

_He's getting the hang of it_ Kakashi smiled to himself. _He's gonna be a great ninja eventually._

XXXXXXXXXX

The months passed slowly for Naruto. Each day was, without a doubt, excruciatingly painful to endure.

On the good side, Naruto made quite a few friends from his class. Most of them saw him as a nice younger brother who just happened to be stronger than them.

He also somehow became an idol and a brother figure to the children in the first year of the Academy. Although he didn't meet with them too often, they loved the moments when he talked to them or, if they were lucky, taught them something he learned from the Academy.

Naruto's relationship with Sasuke was a complicated one. They barely spoke any words to each other and when they needed to communicate, they often did it with their fists (with Sasuke always coming out far worse off). But Naruto felt as though a bond had been shared between the two of them.

In high spirits, Naruto walked into the classroom. Today was graduation day and he felt as though he could ace the test if he concentrated. Nothing could spoil his good mood today.

"Hey shrimp," Ko shouted out. "The kindergarten's in the other room. This room's only for real ninja."

"Oh?" Naruto said. "Then how come you're here?"

"You saying something?" Ko asked.

"Not to anyone who might understand." Naruto replied.

The other kids just sighed at the exchange of words. It had become common occurrence for Naruto and Ko to have verbal fights such as this one. Both were at the top of the class and as both were tutored at home, there were debates as to who was stronger.

"Ok class, calm down," Iruka said as he entered the classroom. "Naruto and Ko stop arguing and take your seats."

Giving each other a contemptuous glare, they both sat down.

"As you all know, today's the day when you all graduate." Iruka started his speech off. "You've all worked very hard and I'm proud to have taught all of you. From here on out, it's all about you. I can't coddle you anymore. You'll all have to grow up. You'll all have to fight and go through hardships. If you all apply yourselves you can all become chuunin and jounin. In fact, the next Hokage could be in this very room."

Most of the kids looked to Naruto and Ko, both of whom were looking determined at this point.

"Now, we'll start off with the written exam," Iruka said as he handed out the papers. "The time for the paper is three hours. I wish you all the best of luck! Your time starts... now!"

XXXXXXXXXX

"Well that wasn't too bad." Yamanaka Inoko said as he sat with Naruto eating lunch.

"Yeah," Naruto replied. "It could've been much worse."

"Some of the questions were hard," Hanada said. "But I think I got most of them."

"You've got nothing to worry about," Inoko said. "You're gonna get the top kunoichi spot. I'm sure you'll beat Inuzuka Hana. Whereas, I've gotta compete with Naruto and Ko. I've got no chance."

"Don't say that Inoko!" Naruto said. "I know you can beat that Ko asshole! Maybe not me, but definitely him!"

"Naruto! Don't say that about Ko-kun!" Hanada said in rebuke.

"I don't know what you see in him." Naruto stated. "He's an arrogant jerk."

"Well he's so cool and he comes from the Hyuuga main branch!"

"Inoko's cooler and he comes from the Yamanaka clan."

"Yeah but let's be honest here," Hanada said. "The Yamanaka's are a respected clan and all, but the Hyuuga are the biggest clan in the village."

Inoko slumped when he heard this. He didn't need to be reminded about that.

"Whatever." Naruto said. "I'm gonna go and get ready for the physical exam. I need to rest and stretch a bit before I can beat Ko's arrogant ass into the ground."

XXXXXXXXXX

The physical exam went well for Naruto, with him passing the kunai and shuriken test with flying colours. The second part was the ninjutsu part, with him having to create three bunshins, do a kawarimi and perform a henge. Luckily for him, he could substitute the bunshins for kage bunshins, or else he would have failed that part of the exam.

He was told that he passed and he received his hitai-ate from Iruka-sensei, who praised him for doing so well on the exam. They would receive their teams the next day, so he went home to tell Kakashi that he passed and was going to be a ninja.

XXXXXXXXXX

The next day, Naruto strolled down the streets of Konoha feeling extremely pleased with himself. Not only did he pass the exam, but he also got new clothes from Kakashi nii-san and they went to Ichiraku ramen to celebrate!

_Flashback_

"_Kakashi nii-san!" Naruto said, bursting through the door. "I passed! I passed the exam!"_

"_Well done Naruto," Kakashi said, pleased with him. "But that wasn't really a surprise, was it?"_

_Naruto pouted. "You could be a little happier for me."_

"_I am happy for you," Kakashi said. "In fact, I got you a present."_

_Kakashi handed Naruto the package and Naruto's eyes lit up in expectation._

"_Wow!" He exclaimed. "What is it?"_

"_Open it and see."_

_Shredding the wrapping paper, Naruto found a set of sturdy, matching pair of black trousers and short sleeved shirt. On top of them was a pair of metal forearm protectors and an x-strap holder for his tanto._

"_They're similar to the clothes I used to wear as a genin and a chuunin." Kakashi said. "They're all purpose wear and they last for quite a long time. I just thought you needed a change of clothes from shorts and a t shirt."_

"_I love it!" Naruto exclaimed. "Thanks so much Kakashi nii-san!"_

"_No problem," Kakashi replied. "Just become the best ninja you can and that'll be thanks enough. Now, how about some Ichiraku ramen?"_

_Flashback end_

Thinking about his perfect day, Naruto didn't realise he had reached the Academy already.

XXXXXXXXXX

"Nice clothes Naruto," Hanada said as she saw him enter the room. "They really suit you. But have you always had a tanto?"

"Thanks," Naruto said. "My nii-san got them for me yesterday. I've always had the tanto, but I just didn't bring it into the Academy."

"They don't look that special, if you ask me." Ko said from his usual seat.

"No one asked you, asshole." Naruto replied automatically.

"Alright! Settle down kids!" Iruka said intervening before the inevitable fight started. "Ok, I've got the team list here. The Hokage and I spent a long time perfecting these teams, so they're permanent. You'll be with your teammates for a very long time, so try to get along with them and your jounin sensei as well."

All of the kids were buzzing in anticipation and the tension was thick in the air.

"Ok then," Iruka started. "Let's begin. Team 1 is..."

XXXXXXXXXX

**Author's Note: **And that's Chapter 4 for you guys (GASP I started a sentence with 'and').

I hope you enjoyed it! At over 6,000 words, it's the longest chapter so far. I think it's a pretty good length and an enjoyable chapter to read.

You've finally seen the rookies and their interactions with Naruto (well sort of). There'll be more of that at appropriate times.

You'll find out the teams next time and the jounin sensei as well.

I hope you're all looking forward to the next chapter. I know I am! Although, I'll probably be updating weekly from now on. We'll see how it goes.

See you all soon. Ja ne!


	5. Team 7! The Bell Test!

**Disclaimer: ** Masashi Kishimoto is the creator of Naruto. The only things which I own are my original characters and the plot.

**Author's Note:** Ugh! Sorry for the long delay in bringing out the chapter guys. I've had some problems with my computer. I hope you're not mad with me ;_;.

Anyway, here's Chapter 5 of your favourite story (at least I hope so).

**Konoha's Yellow Fang**

_Chapter 5: Team 7? The Bell Test?_

The tension in the room was palpable. Each student was on the edge of their seats in anticipation. The rankings had not been posted yet and so all of the teams were up to sheer speculation. Would they be with their best friend or with their worst enemy? What would their sensei be like and what would he or she teach them?

It seemed as though Iruka-sensei was deliberately keeping them in suspense before he finally began announcing the teams.

"Ok then," Iruka started. "Let's begin. Team 1 is..."

XXXXXXXXXX

Naruto was in a state of nervous excitement. He knew he did really well in the exam and so he must have placed quite high in the rankings, but he was not too sure whether or not he would be with any of his friends.

He was so nervous that he missed the first few teams that were called out. Tuning back in, he was just in time to hear another team being called out.

"Team 7 is Uzumaki Naruto," Iruka started.

Immediately, Naruto jerked upright. This was it. This was his team. He clenched his desk tightly.

"Yuhi Hanada," Iruka continued.

Naruto immediately relaxed slightly. Hanada-chan was one of his best friends, so at least his team would be fun.

Looking to his right, Naruto saw her and gave her a thumbs up, which she returned. Settling back in his seat, Naruto waited for his last teammate to be announced.

"And lastly, Hyuuga Ko." Iruka announced.

"What!" Naruto exclaimed in disbelief, while Hanada blushed.

"Yeah, what gives?" Ko asked in irritation. "I know the brat probably sucked out on the exam, but to think he was so talentless as to come dead last to be paired with me."

Before Naruto could come up with a retort, Iruka replied.

"Actually Ko, Naruto came rookie of year by a couple of points," Iruka said, to which Ko's jaw dropped. "While the two of you got the same score on the weapons test, Naruto scored slightly higher on the written paper and received some extra credit in the ninjutsu test."

Quite a few people congratulated Naruto, to which he just blushed.

"Wait a second, if I came first and the asshole came second," Naruto started, to which Ko growled and Iruka sweat dropped. "Then that means the top three students are in the same team. Does that usually happen?"

"Yeah!" Inoko exclaimed. "What the hell gives? There's no way the other teams will be able to compete!"

"I admit that it is certainly unusual, but Team 7 was specially considered by me and Hokage-sama for a while." Iruka said. "We believe that the overall team-layout was acceptable. No complaining."

There were a few murmurs around the class room, while Naruto and Ko just glared at each other.

"Oh, I almost forgot," Iruka continued. "Your jounin sensei will be Hatake Kakashi."

"What!" Naruto exclaimed.

All of his classmates were utterly confused as they saw him collapse in a heap.

"Carrying on, Team 8 will be..."

XXXXXXXXXX

"Ok class, come back after lunch and you'll be collected by your jounin sensei." Iruka said cheerfully. "It's been a good year and I hope you all go on to become excellent shinobi."

With that said, the newly instated genin filed out of the classroom.

"This is unbelievable." Naruto said. "I can't believe I'm stuck with that asshole for god knows how long."

"Look on the bright side," Hanada said cheerfully. "At least we know that we're all really competent. It's better than being stuck with the dead last."

"Says you," Naruto replied. "Besides, I can't believe _that_ man is our sensei."

"Do you know him?" Hanada asked. "I think I've heard of his name before but I can't really remember..."

Before Naruto could reply, Inoko jogged up and met the two of them.

"Hey guys or maybe I should say guy and girl?" He laughed but was the only one. "Bah, none of you ever get my jokes."

"Maybe because they're stupid." Naruto replied bluntly.

Inoko slumped as usual, but quickly recovered.

"So, where are you two going?" He asked, trying to change the subject away from his amazing but misunderstood jokes.

"We're going to lunch," Hanada replied. "We invited Ko-kun but he seemed busy."

_Flashback_

"_Hey Ko-kun," Hanada called shyly. "I thought um... well, maybe you'd like to go to lunch with me and Naruto?"_

"_Nope." Ko replied smoothly and walked away._

_Hanada immediately wilted while Naruto just rolled his eyes at the display._

_Flashback end_

"Oh ok," Inoko said, silently happy that Hanada was still available. "Well I might join you then."

"Shouldn't you be having lunch with the other guys on Team 8?" Naruto asked. "You know, bonding and all that crap."

"Well Hana couldn't come 'cause she's taking care of her dogs." Inoko replied. "Apparently it's more work taking care of three dogs rather than one. Who would've thought!"

"I know right?" Naruto replied sarcastically, causing Hanada to giggle.

"Also, Jun said he's gonna train a bit before we meet Hayate-sensei," Inoko continued, completely missing the sarcasm. "He was a bit upset that he came dead last so I think he wants to prove that he won't slow us down."

"That makes sense," Hanada said. "He does mostly taijutsu doesn't he? Yet his taijutsu is, at best, below average. He really does need to improve."

"Yeah, I hope Hayate-sensei will help us become a great team." Inoko said. "So where are we gonna eat?"

"Ichiraku Ramen!" Naruto shouted, speeding off in its direction.

"What's Ichiraku Ramen?" Inoko asked Hanada as they both chased after the blond blur.

"It's some ramen store. It's probably Naruto's favourite or something."

XXXXXXXXXX

By the time they caught up with Naruto, he was already on his second bowl.

"Geez, what took you guys so long?" Naruto asked with his mouth full.

"Idiot!" Hanada shouted. "You left in a hurry, leaving us to find the place."

"Hmm..." Naruto thought for a moment before nodding his head. "This is true."

Hanada sighed while Inoko laughed.

"Ah, are these your friends Naruto?" Teuchi asked from behind the counter.

"Yeah, but hurry up with the ramen old man!" Naruto shouted out rudely.

"Naruto! Be more polite!" Hanada admonished. "Sorry about him. He's still a kid, he doesn't understand anything."

"Hey!" Naruto shouted.

"That's alright," Ayame said as she entered from the back of the stall. "What'll you guys have?"

"I'll have a beef ramen." Inoko said.

"I'll have a vegetable ramen," Hanada said. "Oh and a green tea please."

"Alright, one beef ramen and one vegetable ramen and green tea coming right up!" Teuchi said. "Take a seat while you wait."

Taking their seats, Inoko and Hanada began talking about their respective teams while Naruto ate.

"I can't wait to start missions you know?" Inoko said. "I think my team's ok, but yours is really overkill. I don't know what Hokage-sama and Iruka-sensei were thinking about that."

"Maybe they thought we would work well together? Or maybe they thought our abilities mesh well." Hanada tried.

"Or maybe they thought I should smash Ko's Hyuuga ass down a few pegs. It's standard procedure really." Naruto said as he nodded his head.

Hanada sighed once again.

"I hope you two can put whatever it is behind you and be good teammates once we start working together. I'd hate to be the only voice of reason in the team."

"Yeah, whatever." Naruto replied. "Old man, another miso ramen!"

_Wait a second!_ Both Hanada and Inoko thought at the same time. _If he's eating, that means he'll have to take off his mask!_

XXXXXXXXXX

The next thirty or so minutes encompassed many of Hanada and Inoko's attempts to see underneath Naruto's mask.

"Ugh, I give up!" Hanada shouted in frustration.

"Yeah, this is impossible!" Inoko shouted in reply.

"Huh? Aren't you enjoying your food?" Naruto asked, completely ignorant of what was happening.

"No it's something else. I'm gonna go and meet my team now," Inoko said. "Lunch is over and I don't wanna be late when Hayate-sensei picks us up. You coming?"

"Yeah I think we will." Hanada replied as she paid for her meal.

"No we won't." Naruto said as he also paid for his meal.

"Huh? Why not?" Both Inoko and Hanada asked in unison.

"'Cause our sensei won't be there for a while." Naruto replied with a knowing smile. "So Hanada, what d'you wanna do for the next two or so hours?"

"Are you sure about this Naruto?" Hanada asked hesitantly.

"Of course I'm sure!" Naruto said, sounding hurt. "When have I ever misled you?"

Hanada deadpanned.

_Flashback_

"_Naruto," Hanada said as she was holding a piece of string. "What did you say would happen if I pull this?_

"_Relax," Naruto said with a smile. "It'll just bring down a display that'll awe Ko. He'll probably love you for it."_

_Hearing those words, Hanada hastily pulled the piece of string. Immediately, a bucket of glue and feathers fell down on the sleeping Ko._

_Naruto burst out laughing as he was chased around by an irate Hyuuga._

_Flashback end_

"Whatever, let's just go do something to waste the time," She answered, dragging Naruto away. "Good luck with your team Inoko! I hope we'll see each other often!"

_Is that... a statement of love?_ Inoko thought in bliss.

XXXXXXXXXX

"Team 1 with me."

"Team 6 meet by the park."

"Team 10 over here."

The various teams left with their respective jounin senseis, leaving only Team 8 and Ko. Five minutes later, Hayate turned up, looking ill.

"*cough* Ah... Sorry I'm late," He said. "Team 8 follow me."

"We'll see ya around Ko," Inoko said. "Are you sure you don't wanna go and meet up with Naruto and Hanada?"

"No. When Kakashi-sensei comes and that shrimp Naruto is missing, he's gonna be dropped from the program and I'll get a new teammate." Ko said evilly. "Of course I'll cover for Hanada, saying that she was corrupted by Naruto."

"Um... ok?" Inoko said. "See ya."

XXXXXXXXXX

Meanwhile, Naruto and Hanada were sitting on the top of the Hokage Mountain.

"Are you sure we shouldn't go yet, Naruto?" Hanada asked. "I'm worried that Kakashi-sensei will be angry with us."

"You worry too much!" Naruto said. "Now just take in the view. I'm trying to draw it."

Looking over his shoulder, Hanada saw a detailed drawing of Konoha village from the view of the Mountain.

"Wow, that's pretty good." Hanada said impressed. "Where'd you learn to draw like that?"

"Oh, you'll meet the guy soon." Naruto said as he chuckled.

XXXXXXXXXX

_Where the hell is Kakashi-sensei?_ Ko thought in ire. _If he doesn't come soon, that idiot Naruto might come before him!_

XXXXXXXXXX

"Ah," Naruto exclaimed, holding up his drawing. "That should do it. What d'you think?"

"That's pretty cool Naruto," Hanada said. "But we've been here for over an hour and a half. Don't you think it's time to go back?"

"Hmm..." Naruto thought. "I guess so. It's about the right time."

Stretching his legs, Naruto folded the drawing and put it in his pocket.

"If we walk at a leisurely pace, we should get there in about... five to ten minutes." He said.

"But what if Kakashi-sensei is already there?" Hanada asked in a worried tone. "Maybe we should jog it."

"Nah, trust me. It'll be fine."

XXXXXXXXXX

_It's been two hours._ Ko thought as he struggled to hold in his anger. _If someone doesn't come now, I'm gonna break something._

"Yo, asshole." Naruto said as he entered the room with Hanada behind him. "How's it going?"

"Where the hell have you been!" Ko shouted. "I've been waiting here for over two hours!"

"Oh, well Hanada and I had lunch and then we rested at the Hokage Mountain for a while." Naruto said with a smile. "You probably should've come. It was fun."

"Spend time with you?" Ko asked. "Not likely."

Just then, the door opened and Kakashi walked in, holding his trusty book in his hand.

"And where the hell have _you_ been?" Ko shouted.

"Ah... sorry I'm late," Kakashi began. "There was a black cat on the road, so I had to take the long way round."

_That's the worst excuse ever._ Hanada and Ko thought in disbelief.

"Yo Kakashi nii-san."

"Oh Naruto, is that you?" Kakashi said with a smile. "How's it going?"

"Not bad," Naruto replied. "I knew you were gonna be late, so Hanada and I just went to get lunch. I drew you something."

Naruto handed Kakashi the picture as both Ko and Hanada's mouths dropped open.

"Oh! Nice drawing and good initiative." Kakashi said with an eye smile.

"What the hell is going on!" Ko shouted out.

"Hmm... I think I'm your jounin sensei. Let's meet on the roof in five minutes." Kakashi said as he shunshined away.

"I actually hate you." Ko said as he faced Naruto.

XXXXXXXXXX

Five minutes later, Team 7 was sitting on the roof in front of their to-be jounin sensei.

"Alright then," Kakashi said. "Since we're all here, how about we get to know each other? Let's start with introductions."

"Well... what sort of things shall we say?" Hanada asked.

"You know... your likes, dislikes." Kakashi said. "Dreams for the future, hobbies, stuff like that."

"Why don't you go first?" Ko asked, still irritated by his long wait.

"Oh... me?" Kakashi said. "My name is Hatake Kakashi. I have no desire to tell you guys about my likes and dislikes. Dreams for the future...? Hmm... Well I have lots of hobbies..."

_So all we learned was his name._ Hanada and Ko thought as Naruto chuckled.

"Ok then," Kakashi continued. "You, girl in the bandages, you're up next."

"Ok um... My name is Yuhi Hanada," she started. "I like genjutsus and..." She looked to Ko and blushed. "I dislike those who think genjutsu is weak. My dream for the future is to be a better genjutsu artist than my cousin Kurenai and..." She looked to Ko and blushed again. "My hobbies are training my genjutsu and reading about anything I guess."

_Well at least she knows what path she wants to go down._ Kakashi thought. _I think I remember the name Yuhi Kurenai. I'll probably talk to her later._

"Ok Hyuuga, you're up." Kakashi said.

"My name is Hyuuga Ko." He began. "I like training my family's taijutsu, training my byakugan and playing with my baby cousin Hinata. I dislike Naruto as he resembles a shrimp's ass."

"Hey!" Naruto protested.

"My hobbies include beating down Naruto with my superior taijutsu skills and spending time with Hinata." Ko continued. "My dream for the future is just one thing: to change the Hyuuga forever."

_Well that's interesting._ Kakashi thought. _That's a difficult goal._

"Alright Naruto, you're turn." Kakashi said.

"Oh... me?" Naruto said. "My name is Uzumaki Naruto. I have no desire to tell you guys about my likes and dislikes. Dreams for the future...? Hmm... Well I have lots of hobbies..."

As soon as Naruto proudly finished his introduction, Kakashi gave him a bonk on the head.

"Do it properly." Kakashi said.

"Fine." Naruto said with a pout. "My name is Uzumaki Naruto. I like ninjutsus, tanto kenjutsus, dogs and drawing stuff. I dislike Ko's arrogant ass. My hobbies include humiliating Ko, drawing and practicing ninjutsus. As for my dream for the future: to become the greatest Hokage ever and to understand why _that_ man did what he did."

Hanada and Ko were confused about the last part, but Kakashi understood it perfectly.

_He's still fixated on Itachi._ Kakashi thought. _He hasn't forgotten that one encounter._

"Well then," Kakashi said. "I'm glad we've all gotten to know each other. As it's too late to do anything worthwhile today, we'll all meet up tomorrow and start out duties then."

"What sort of duties?" Ko asked intrigued.

"Well it'll be just the four of us," Kakashi said. "We'll be doing survival training."

"What sort of survival training?" Hanada asked in suspicion. Even Naruto and Ko were on guard.

"You three will be fighting me. You see, of the twenty seven graduates, at the most nine will pass and the rest will be sent back to the Academy. This training is a super difficult exam with a failure rate of over 66 percent." Kakashi said ominously.

"What!" Hanada exclaimed. "Then what was the point of the Academy exam?"

"Oh that?" Kakashi said. "That was just to see if you all had the competence to become genin. This is gonna be different. So come to training ground number three at nine o'clock with all your tools. Oh and don't eat or else you'll throw up."

With that said, Kakashi shunshined away, leaving a stunned trio in his wake.

"This is insane!" Hanada complained. "How hard is this test if only three teams at best are gonna pass? What are we gonna do?"

"What are you talking about?" Naruto asked in confusion. "We'll be fine, just be at your best tomorrow. Oh and remember to eat."

"Yeah I'm with shrimp on this one," Ko said. "We're the top three students in the Academy, there's no way we'll fail. Besides there's no way I'm not eating, I'll need my energy for whatever we're gonna do."

"I guess..." Hanada said. "But don't you guys think we should come early to maybe put in some training?"

"Nah," Naruto said. "We'll need our energy for the exam. Oh and by the way, don't come till like eleven o'clock. He's just gonna be late again."

With that said, Naruto walked off to go home and left the other two to contemplate his words.

"Are you gonna come late like Naruto said?" Hanada asked.

"Nope," Ko said as he started to walk away. "I'm coming at nine o'clock just like Kakashi-sensei said. I can't wait to see Naruto's face when he's told he's gonna be dropped from the program. Of course we'll need a new teammate, but I'm sure that won't be too hard. Anyway, I'll see you tomorrow."

Ko laughed as he walked away, leaving a slightly perturbed Hanada on the Academy roof.

XXXXXXXXXX

Naruto arrived home to find Kakashi preparing dinner.

"Yo Kakashi nii-san," Naruto announced. "How come you ended up as our jounin sensei? I wouldn't have thought that they would let the two of us be on the same team. You know, too much awesomeness and all that."

"Well," Kakashi began. "Hokage-sama and the council decided that I would be the best fit jounin to teach Team 7. Of course that all depends on if you guys pass the test."

"Yeah about that," Naruto began.

"If you're gonna ask me what's on it, don't bother." Kakashi said. "I'm not gonna show you any bias. Just because we're living together and I'm taking care of you doesn't mean you get any special consideration. When we're doing anything in the field, I'm gonna treat you all equally."

"That's not fair." Naruto said with a pout. "Can't I have even a small hint?"

"Yeah sure," Kakashi said. "Just remember everything I've taught you and you'll be fine. Now come and help me with dinner."

_What does that mean?_ Naruto thought as he went to cut up the vegetables.

XXXXXXXXXX

Naruto woke up the next morning at half past eight and went downstairs for breakfast, only to find Kakashi still drinking coffee at the table.

"Shouldn't you be getting to the training ground now?" Kakashi asked in an annoyed voice.

"I could say the same for you." Naruto replied as he poured himself some juice.

"Hmm... good point." Kakashi said. "Well I'm going now. If you're not there in 10 minutes, I'll send you back to the Academy."

Naruto made a show of alarm as he pretended to scoff his food down. Content with this, Kakashi left the house.

_Bah, he's not gonna be there for another two hours at best._ Naruto thought. _I think I'll check my weapons and go over my tactics again. I'm sure there's something I'm missing._

XXXXXXXXXX

It was five minutes to eleven o'clock and Ko and Hanada were at their wits end when Naruto decided to show up.

"Where the hell have you been?" Surprisingly it was Hanada.

"Well," Naruto began. "I've been at home organising my shuriken pouch and polishing my tanto. Then I went over to the Hokage Mountain and had a small nap. I just woke up not too long ago. In fact, I feel pretty refreshed. What have you two been up to?"

"We've been waiting here for two hours for you and that non-existent sensei!" Ko shouted. "Is it me or does he not try at all to come on time?"

"Hey you can't blame me." Naruto said defensively. "I told you guys not to come till around eleven o'clock, but you wouldn't listen. Kakashi nii-san is always late."

"Yeah but we thought you were just kidding or being an idiot." Hanada said.

"He's my nii-san! I know him better than any of you!" Naruto said.

"Yeah about that," Hanada started.

Just as she said those words, Kakashi walked into the clearing with his Icha Icha Paradise book.

"Yo." He said.

"You're late!" Ko and Hanada shouted in unison.

"Ah, sorry I'm late," Kakashi offered. "I saw a couple dozen pennies on the floor and well, you know what they say, 'See a penny, pick it up, all the day you'll have good luck', so I had to pick it up."

_That was worse than last time._ Hanada and Ko thought.

"Anyway, let's get started." Kakashi said. "Here are two bells. You have till the alarm sounds at noon to get them. The one who doesn't get a bell gets no lunch. But probably more importantly, the one who doesn't get it gets sent back to the Academy."

"What!" The three genin each shouted.

"I'm sure you all understand the gravity of the situation." Kakashi said. "Now, come at me with the intent to kill or else you'll all fail. Begin!"

They scattered.

XXXXXXXXXX

_Hmm, they've hidden themselves well._ Kakashi thought. _Well, all except this one._

"Um... shouldn't you be hiding?" Kakashi asked Ko. "You know, to give yourself the element of surprise and all that. It's probably your only chance of getting a bell."

"I have doubts as to whether you're actually a jounin." Ko said activating his byakugan and falling into the gentle fist stance. "I'm going to test a theory."

With those words, Ko sped towards Kakashi, aiming to disable him.

XXXXXXXXXX

_That idiot!_ Naruto was thinking. _He has no idea what Kakashi nii-san can do to him!_

Crawling slightly towards the clearing in the bush that he was in to get a better view, Naruto brushed the leaves aside and watched the battle between Ko and Kakashi.

XXXXXXXXXX

The first jab came straight at Kakashi's chest and was easily batted away. Not to give up, Ko aimed two simultaneous jabs at Kakashi's head and torso.

Grabbing the arm aimed at his stomach and avoiding the one aimed at his head, Kakashi flung Ko away and began speaking.

"There are three main shinobi arts." He said in a lecture-like voice. "The first: taijutsu."

He then sped towards Ko and threw a punch. Ko then hastily rolled out of it and aimed a flurry of attacks at Kakashi; all of which were dodged.

"You don't have to teach me about taijutsu." Ko said with a smirk. "My clan is all about it."

XXXXXXXXXX

_He's so cool!_ Hanada thought as she watched from her position in one of the trees. _Maybe I should help him? No. We're against each other in this exam. I need a bell just as much as they do. I'm not going back to the Academy._

Steeling her resolve, Hanada continued to watch the fight.

XXXXXXXXXX

"You're slowing down." Kakashi stated. "If you keep this up, you won't get a bell."

"Says you." Ko replied haughtily. "I'm just getting started."

Kakashi sighed and moved in to end the fight. Dodging the first jab at his shoulder and intercepting the one aimed for his lung, Kakashi swept Ko's legs and sent a crippling punch to his stomach.

Winded and out of the fight, Ko fell to the floor in agony.

"One down, two to go." Kakashi said as he dived off into the trees.

XXXXXXXXXX

_Crap! He beat Ko!_ Hanada thought. _Maybe I should go and help him? No. I need to get out of here and maybe set a few traps to get Kakashi-sensei and win a bell._

Hanada then jumped out of the tree and started running deeper into the forest of the training ground.

XXXXXXXXXX

_None of us stand a chance against him._ Naruto thought as he moved away from the bushes. _So what's the point of trying? If none of us are gonna get a bell, then I must be missing something important._

Scowling, Naruto moved deeper into the forest to plan a strategy which would not leave him as a mess of the floor like Ko.

XXXXXXXXXX

Hanada was approaching a second clearing when she heard faint voice to her right.

"Hanada... help me please..."

Looking in the direction, she immediately froze in place. There, crawling covered in blood and missing an arm, was Ko.

"Please Hanada, take me to the hospital quickly..."

_It's not real. It's not real. It's not real._ Hanada chanted in her head. _You know it's just a genjutsu. Expel it!_

Summoning all of her courage, Hanada placed her hands in the ram seal and dispelled the genjutsu.

"Very good Hanada." Kakashi said as he walked into the clearing. "As you've realised, the second shinobi art is genjutsu."

Hanada looked ill and slightly wobbly on her feet.

"As well as you've done so far, it'll only get worse." Kakashi said as he gathered his chakra. "Just one piece of advice: don't believe what your senses tell you."

With that, he fired another stronger genjutsu at her.

Screaming and clutching her head, Hanada fell in a pile on the grassy floor.

"Two down, one to go." Kakashi said as he went off to hunt for Naruto.

XXXXXXXXXX

_That scream was from Hanada!_ Naruto thought in despair. _I've gotta help her._

Before he could move, a fireball flew towards him at an increasing pace. Dodging it, Naruto fell into a clearing and saw Kakashi there.

"What's the meaning of this test nii-san?" Naruto asked in a slightly worried voice.

"Tsk tsk tsk Naruto," Kakashi said. I thought I told you not to call me nii-san when we're on the field. Besides, who's to say there is a meaning of the test? I'm just trying to educate you. First comes taijutsu, second genjutsu and third: ninjutsu."

His hands flew into seals and ended on tiger.

"**Katon: Goukakyu no jutsu** **(Fire release: Great Fireball technique)!**"

A giant fireball flew at Naruto, who just managed to dodge it at the last moment. Preparing his own technique, Naruto's hands flew into seals and ended on snake.

"**Fuuton: Daitoppa (Wind release: Great breakthrough)!**"

The gust of wind raged towards Kakashi who stood waiting for the attack.

"Naruto, you should know that fire beats wind each time." Preparing another fire attack, Kakashi almost missed the explosive tag attached to a kunai which Naruto had flung behind the attack.

Dodging the flaming wall which threatened to burn him, Kakashi landed to see Naruto long gone.

_Well that was interesting._ He thought. _I wonder if he'll get the true meaning of the exam._

Kakashi then sped off looking for Naruto.

XXXXXXXXXX

With a splash of water, Hanada woke up splurting and choking.

"What's going on?" She asked groggily as her vision refocused.

"Well we all got our assess handed to us." Ko said in frustration.

"Well not all of us." Naruto pointed out. "I managed to get away from him and drag you guys all the way here."

"I didn't need your help!" Ko shouted out. "I could've beaten him myself. He just caught me off guard. I'm gonna go lay into him."

"Don't. If you go now, the same thing is gonna happen again." Naruto warned. "There's no way we can beat that guy on our own."

"So what are we gonna do?" Hanada asked. "I don't wanna go back to the Academy."

"Think about it." Naruto said. "There are only two bells, so only two of us can become genin."

"So what am I doing wasting time with you?" Ko asked. "I'm gonna go and get my bell."

"No please wait and hear me out." Naruto said. "Think about it, have you ever seen any two man teams?"

Both Ko and Hanada shook their heads.

"Exactly!" Naruto said. "The purpose of the bells is to split us up. There's no way any of us can beat a jounin, let alone that guy. When I was growing up, Kakashi nii-san always told me to 'look underneath the underneath'. D'you know what I'm seeing?"

"What?" Hanada asked.

"Yeah tell us, oh great one." Ko said sarcastically.

"I'm seeing the true meaning." Naruto continued. "I think the exam is supposed to test our teamwork. There's no other reason for him to try so hard to pit us against each other."

"So you're saying if we work together we can get the bells?" Ko asked.

"Not really." Naruto replied. "That guy can probably take out a thousand genin. What I'm saying is if we work together, we should pass the test no matter what the outcome is."

"Well it's worth a try, don't you think so Ko?" Hanada asked.

"Whatever. So what's the plan?" He asked.

"Ok, it's simple," Naruto said. "All we have to do is..."

XXXXXXXXXX

_Where have those kids gone?_ Kakashi wondered as he was jumping through the trees in the training ground. _I hope they haven't given up. There's not much time left._

Contemplating the likelihood of Naruto giving up, Kakashi almost missed the kunai which was speeding towards him.

Dodging it smoothly, Kakashi jumped into the clearing next to the river to find Ko standing in the middle of the clearing.

"Oh, you're back for more?" Kakashi asked.

"No, I'm back for your bells." Ko answered as he charged Kakashi.

As Kakashi suppressed his chuckle at the innuendo, he prepared himself for the series of taijutsu strikes which were bound to come.

He wasn't disappointed as Ko aimed a palm strike at his chest. Deflecting it, Kakashi threw a punch at Ko. The taijutsu continued for a while before Kakashi smashed a heel into Ko's face, flinging the Hyuuga genin into the shrubbery.

Immediately, ten Narutos jumped out of the river and started attacking Kakashi.

"Oh is it your turn now?" Kakashi asked.

"Yeah, it's my turn to kick your ass." The ten Narutos replied in unison.

Kakashi managed to dispel most of the clones, leaving only a couple. As the melee continued, Kakashi aimed a punch at one of the remaining Narutos, only for his punch to phase harmlessly through its head.

_A genjutsu!_ Kakashi thought as he dispelled it.

"You realised it too late." Ko said from behind him.

With a jab to the base of Kakashi's spine, Ko effectively ended the match.

The remaining Narutos dispelled leaving only one. Hanada left her hiding spot in the trees and went to join the two boys in celebration.

"So Kakashi nii-san," Naruto said holding both bells in his hand. "Do we pass?"

"Yeah," A Kakashi said, emerging from the bushes as the kage bunshin they had disabled dispelled along with the bells in their hand. "You all pass."

XXXXXXXXXX

**Author's Note:** Once again I'm really sorry for the delay in getting this chapter out! My computer had some serious problems with it and I lost a large majority of what I had written.

Anyway, Team 7 passed the test! They'll be fully operational next chapter!

I've begun fleshing out my OCs a bit and I hope they're coming out as I hoped as they will be playing a major part in the plot.

I hope you all enjoyed this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it.

Keep reviewing guys! I need to know how I'm doing and what you guys love and hate!

See you next weekend!

Ja ne!


	6. Team training and D rank missions!

**Disclaimer: ** Masashi Kishimoto is the creator of Naruto. The only things which I own are my original characters and the plot.

**Author's Note:** I can't believe it. After only five chapters, this story has already reached the one hundred reviews mark! I couldn't have done it without you, my loyal fans! (No really, I couldn't O_o). I've prepared a special omake at the end of the chapter, just for you all. I hope you enjoy it (I found it funny when I was writing it). Anyway, here's Chapter 6. Enjoy!

**Konoha's Yellow Fang**

_Chapter 6: Team training and D-D-D-Rank Missions?_

"Ugh! This was all a waste of time!" Ko said, falling on his back in exasperation. "We didn't even get the stupid bells!"

"Well it wasn't exactly a waste of time," Naruto said. "We still took down one of Kakashi nii-san's kage bunshins. That's something."

"Yeah and my genjutsu worked perfectly!" Hanada said smiling.

"Naruto and Hanada are right, Ko." Kakashi said with an eye smile. "At first, you all failed as you tried to come at me individually. Even though I came at all three of you with your specialties: taijutsu for Ko, genjutsu for Hanada and ninjutsu for Naruto, neither of you could score a hit. Yet when you started to look underneath the underneath and realised that the exam was all a sham, you came together as a decent unit and managed to steal the fake bells from my kage bunshin. I'm proud of you."

"So the exam wasn't to test our skill at all, was it?" Naruto asked with a slight frown.

"Very good, Naruto." Kakashi said. "The exam was to test your teamwork."

"So even if we didn't fight, but showed some sort of teamwork, you would have passed us?" Hanada asked.

"Most likely." Kakashi answered.

"So, why the huge emphasis on teamwork?" She pressed. "I don't get it. We basically ignored the rules of the exam."

"Rules aren't everything, Hanada." Kakashi said. "I'll tell you something which my sensei told me when I was your age: in the ninja world, those who break the rules are trash, but those who abandon their teammates are worse than trash."

"That makes sense." Naruto said, nodding his head. "Being a tight ass for the rules sucks."

"Yeah, I agree with the shrimp," Ko said. "Who needs rules?"

_I don't think that's what he meant._ Hanada thought with a sweat drop.

"Anyway, that ends the exam. All of you pass!" Kakashi said with a thumbs-up. "Team 7 is officially functional! Starting tomorrow, we'll begin our duties! Meet here at eight o'clock in the morning!"

XXXXXXXXXX

"Yo." Kakashi said.

"You're late!" Hanada and Ko shouted out.

"Ah, sorry I'm late," Kakashi started. "I had to go back home to check if I left the water running."

"You're sense of time is screwed!" Ko shouted as he was being held down by Hanada and Naruto. "Let me go! I'm gonna shove a clock down his throat!"

"Mah, don't be mad at Kakashi nii-san," Naruto said in a cheerful voice, having tied down Ko. "After all, he's only an hour late today. That must be some sort of record!"

"Well, since we're so energetic today," Kakashi said, looking at Ko. "How about I tell you about what we'll be doing during team meetings?"

The whole of Team 7 leaned forward expectantly, waiting for Kakashi to reveal the mystery behind their meetings. Different questions were swimming in their minds: What sort of training will they receive? What missions will they do? What techniques will they learn?

As the seconds ticked by and Kakashi continued reading his smut novel, it became apparent that he had no intention of telling them. So, summing up her courage, Hanada asked him the all important question.

"Um, sensei, what _will_ we be doing during these team meetings?"

"That's a very good question Hanada!" Kakashi said with a smile.

"Care to answer it?" Ko asked through grit teeth.

"Yup." Kakashi said, finally closing his book. "Each day, we'll split our time into three overall sessions: team training, missions and finally, individual training. I've never done this kind of set up with a team before, probably because I've never had a team before! Any questions?"

"Yeah, what kind of training? What kind of missions? I bet they'll be the cool kind, where we go to loads of different countries!" Naruto said in excitement. Ko seemed equally as eager.

"Well, to answer your first question, as I said, training will be split into two types: team based training and individual training. Team based, as the name suggests, will be training performed as a team. It'll include chakra control exercises, taijutsu practice and team building exercises amongst other things. Individual training will be where we try and play to your strengths. You'll each concentrate on your specialist fields, whether it's taijutsu, ninjutsu or genjutsu. Hopefully you'll all improve exponentially."

As Kakashi's explanation continued, it became clear that Naruto and Ko were training addicts. The symptoms started with controlled excitement and then transitioned into a slight trepidation. Eventually both were weak at the loins and were drooling at the prospects of the intense training that would follow. Even Hanada was excited by the chance to improve and overtake her sister as top genjutsu mistress of Konoha.

"As for your other question," Kakashi continued. "The missions will certainly be interesting, but I'm not telling you what they'll be like. After all, who wants to spoil the surprise?"

He finished with an eye smile which left the three genin slightly suspicious, but they each shrugged it off.

"So, Kakashi nii-san," Naruto started. "When do we start and what'll we be doing first?"

"We start now," Kakashi said. "And we'll be climbing trees."

Naruto paled. He knew where this was going.

Both Hanada and Ko were more than slightly confused. How would climbing trees help them to become more able shinobi? Ko decided to be more vocal about his confusion.

"How the hell will climbing trees help me become a better shinobi?" He asked in a rude tone. "I've been climbing trees since I was a kid and I haven't noticed any extra power. What gives?"

"Yeah, I don't exactly see how this'll help." Hanada said in agreement.

"Well you see," Kakashi said. "We won't be climbing trees the normal way as you may have done as children. We'll be climbing trees without the use of our hands."

"That's impossible." Ko scoffed.

"Oh? But many of the things we ninja do are impossible." Kakashi said in reply. "We're trained to go beyond the ability of normal people. I can do things which would leave any civilian in shock. Now, watch."

Kakashi approached a tree of medium height and, without stopping, placed his right foot on its trunk and continued walking. The higher up the tree he went, the lower Hanada and Ko's jaws dropped.

"He's walking with just his feet..." Ko said in awe. "How's he doing that?"

"I've got no idea." Hanada said, just as confused.

"Just gather your chakra at the soles of your feet and use it to stick yourself to the tree." Kakashi said while standing upside down on a branch. "This is one of the wonders you can do with just a little bit of chakra. I'm of course assuming that you all know what chakra is. You do, don't you?"

Receiving nods of confirmation from Hanada and Ko, Kakashi continued.

"Good. Now, the purpose of this exercise is to improve chakra control." Kakashi said, noticing Naruto's wince. "Chakra control is one of the most important aspects of a shinobi's arsenal. Without good chakra control, some shinobi arts can't be performed. For example, without good chakra control, genjutsu and medical ninjutsu would be unattainable. Most ninjutsus will be difficult to learn and certain taijutsu styles, such as our very own Hyuuga's gentle fist, will be impossible."

Throughout Kakashi's explanation of chakra control, Naruto kept wilting at his misfortune. Chakra control was easily his worst area. It was so bad that had he not learned the kage bunshin, he would have failed the Academy for his lack of ability in respect to creating a simple E-rank bunshin. It wasn't like he didn't try; it was just that he had way too much chakra at his disposal. If chakra control was proportional to the amount of chakra a person had, Naruto would have perfect control. Unfortunately, one's chakra control was inversely proportional to the amount of chakra one had. In other words, his huge pool of chakra made his control suck.

"Well, now that you understand the importance of chakra control, I want you all to go and practise. Take these kunai and mark your progress." Kakashi said throwing three kunai in front of them. "Just as you're about to fall off, scratch the trunk. It'll help to show your progress and motivate you to beat your last height. Naruto's done this before, so I'm sure he'll be glad to help you. If you need anything else, I'll be here watching."

"Yeah, yeah." Naruto said in reluctance as he picked up the kunai. "Come one Hanada-chan, let's go."

"Ok! This is gonna be great!" She replied as she pumped her fist in the air.

The two of them walked away leaving an important member of the team.

"Oi! Get back here and untie me!" Ko shouted out in irritation.

XXXXXXXXXX

"Ok then," Naruto said, sweating slightly. "Let's start."

"You ok Naruto?" Hanada asked in a worried tone. "You look kinda shifty... are you ill?"

"No, no," Naruto said, waving his hand in front of his face. "It's nothing. I just can't wait to do this..."

"The shrimp's probably frightened at the prospect of me beating him to the top of the tree." Ko said as he readied himself for the task.

For once in his life, Naruto didn't have a witty, well thought out retort ready to fling back at Ko. His tongue was well and truly tied and had no intention of untying itself. Oh how he hated chakra control exercises.

"Alright! Here I go!" Ko yelled as his war cry.

Reaching the tree, Ko extended his right leg and placed his foot on the trunk. He just about managed to place his left foot on the trunk when he slipped and fell on his back lamely.

"What the hell!" Ko shouted. "I gathered my chakra and everything, just like Kakashi-sensei said!"

"That looks hard..." Hanada said as she watched Ko holding his head and writhing in pain. "I'm gonna give it a go. Wish me luck!"

Steeling her resolve, Hanada pooled some chakra at the soles of her feet and took off in sprint. Reaching the tree and gripping her kunai tightly, she started jogging up the trunk. Each step gave her more and more confidence. With her legs and her chakra becoming increasingly steady, she continued running up the trunk, eventually reaching a branch strong enough to hold her weight. Wiping the sweat off her brow, she called down to her teammates.

"Hey guys, it's not so bad!"

"How the hell did she do that?" Ko asked in amazement.

"Come on Naruto, it's your turn!" Hanada called out from her treetop seat.

"He he, yeah..." Naruto said with an uneasy chuckle. "Here I go..."

Gulping down his anxiety, he approached the tree. With each nervous step, he increased his momentum until he was a foot away from the tree and at full speed. With determination, he planted his right foot about half a metre up the trunk and started sprinting. He managed about seven steps up before his chakra wavered and the trunk splintered. Scratching his mark in the tree, Naruto curled up into a ball and, twisting his body so that his legs were pointing towards the ground was able to land softly on the grass beneath.

"Well it seems as though Hanada is closest to becoming Hokage," Kakashi said from the stump he was sitting on. "And that the Hyuuga aren't that special after all. Who would've thought?"

Knowing that his words would irritate Naruto and Ko and spur them to try harder, he wasn't surprised when both of their eyes changed to those of determination.

_Mah, they're way too easy to manipulate._ Kakashi thought. _But it still worries me that Naruto's having this much trouble with chakra control. It's a given that he would always have problems due to his tenant, but this is a little much._

As he watched Ko slip off his trunk while Naruto splintered his once again, Kakashi sighed in exasperation and continued reading his novel.

"Argh! What am I doing wrong?" Ko shouted out to no one in particular.

"This sucks," Naruto said after failing once again. "You think you've got it bad? I've been doing this for weeks now and I've hardly made any progress."

"That's just 'cause you suck. This sort of stuff is normal occurrence for you. I, on the other hand, am a first rate shinobi. I shouldn't be having problems climbing a stupid tree!"

"Tsk, whatever," Naruto said, ignoring Ko's words. "I'm gonna ask Hanada."

XXXXXXXXXX

The exercise had been going on for over an hour and Hanada was completely worn out. She could have guessed that both Naruto and Ko had more chakra than her but what she saw was insane. While she had given up after twenty five or so minutes, both of the boys had been literally ploughing through the exercise nonstop. As much as their abundant energy was contagious, she just couldn't lift her body anymore and chose to sit down to recover her chakra faster.

When she saw the boys stop and start talking, she was slightly bewildered. Her surprise grew when she saw Naruto walk over as if to ask her something.

"Hey Hanada, uh..." Naruto started. "Do you uh... know if you can give me any tips?"

"Pff..." Hanada struggled to control her laughter.

"What?" Naruto asked, slightly annoyed that she had disregarded his plea.

"Nothing, it's just that I didn't think you'd be the type to ask for help," Hanada said, to which Naruto just rolled his eyes.

"So can you help me? I don't know what I'm doing wrong."

"Well," Hanada started. "Chakra, as you know, is a mixture of spiritual and physical energy. If there is an imbalance, your chakra control suffers. I think you just need to concentrate a bit more. Concentration always helps."

"I have been concentrating!" Naruto shouted which caused Hanada to wince. "Sorry, I know I probably sound defensive, it's just that chakra control is my worst area."

"Yeah, I can see that." Hanada said. "Don't worry though, practice makes perfect. Another tip is in the amount of chakra you pool at your feet. If you pool too much chakra at your feet, then the wood will splinter, as you've learned. On the other hand, if you pool too little chakra to your feet, then you'll just slip off the trunk. That's what happened to Ko."

"So, I only have to use less chakra and Ko has to use more?"

"Yeah, basically."

"Thanks Hanada! You're the best!" Naruto said as jogged back to do the exercise, but stopped in realisation. "By the way, how come you're not doing it?"

"Well... I kinda ran out of chakra..."

"Pff..." Naruto tried to hold in his laughter.

"Shut up!" Hanada said while blushing. "Not all of us are powerhouses!"

"Sorry, sorry," Naruto said. "But you should probably keep doing the exercise. It builds up chakra reserves you know?"

With that said, Naruto left a contemplating Hanada to fully recover.

XXXXXXXXXX

_Well at least there's still some hope for them._ Kakashi thought as he saw Naruto returning from Hanada. _I would've been worried for their teamwork if they never helped each other. But I can rest knowing things are going well._

"So shrimp," Ko said. "What'd she say?"

"Like hell I'm telling you." Naruto replied.

_On the other hand..._ Kakashi thought.

XXXXXXXXXX

"I'm proud of all of you." Kakashi said as he stood in front of the three genin. "You all managed some progress today, even if it was just a few feet up the tree."

Both Naruto and Ko looked slightly petulant hearing those words but decided not to vocalise their thoughts.

"You've had a thirty minute break, so we'll move on swiftly to our next exercise."

"Is it missions?" Naruto shouted out in glee.

"No." Kakashi said flatly. "It's still only eleven o'clock. We can put in another good hour of team training before lunch. Then it'll be mission time."

Kakashi heard the three of them groan in displeasure and was quick to rebuke them.

"Mah, don't be like that. Team training is the most important part of a shinobi's training schedule. I want to bring your synergy to a level where your team will be able to take down opponents who are stronger than yourselves individually. Besides, this will be an exercise which I'm sure you'll all enjoy: taijutsu practice."

Both Naruto and Ko's eyes lit up in joy while Hanada let out an exasperated sigh.

"Sensei, I thought you said this would be an exercise which we all like. I hate taijutsu." She complained.

"Well, you can't please everybody." Kakashi said with a smile.

"Come on, Hanada it'll be fun!" Naruto said, still pleased.

"That's the attitude. Now first up: Naruto and Ko." Kakashi said. As he caught the evil glint in both boys' eyes, he decided to add an extra clause. "Remember, this is a taijutsu _exercise_, therefore, no ninjutsus or tanto jutsus for you Naruto and no chakra strikes for you Ko, although you can use your byakugan. Any questions?"

"Yeah," Naruto said, not put off in the slightest. "How much can I show?"

"Just your taijutsu style for now." Kakashi replied.

Both Hanada and Ko were slightly confused by Naruto's question, but disregarded it.

"Ok then, Naruto and Ko get ready. Hanada you can sit and watch for now."

The two boys walked to the centre of the clearing and, staying a few feet apart, both settled into their respective stances; gentle fist for Ko and an unrecognised style for Naruto.

"Hey shrimp, I thought you use Academy style," Ko said, activating his family's kekkei genkai. "I never would've thought that you'd be so talentless as to forget its beginning stance."

"This is a style used by uncle Sakumo," Naruto said to which Kakashi smiled. "I'll show you how much superior it is in comparison to your style."

Naruto's left leg was in front with it bent at the knee. His right leg mirrored the left, but was behind his body and pointing slightly to the right. He had both of his hands in a fist, with his left arm in front of his body and his right behind at head height. The entire stance was quite side on.

"Alright then," Kakashi said once he was sure they were ready. "You both know the rules. Begin!"

As soon as he jumped backwards, Naruto pounced. He feinted a left kick and launched a right jab at Ko's head, aiming to knock Ko out in the first few seconds.

Ko, having read the feint and successfully intercepted Naruto's attack, gave an evil smile and launched two jabs at his opponent's tenketsus. Blocking the first attack and dodging the second, Naruto kicked at Ko's legs in order to imbalance him, but met thin air, as Ko had jumped.

Ko flipped in midair and, landing a few feet away from Naruto, leaped back into the fight. He was having a bit of difficulty adjusting to Naruto's new style, but he compensated for it by changing his own attacking pattern: where he would normally dodge, he blocked; where he would normally jab, he would palm strike. If Naruto was going to change, then he himself would adapt as well.

The fight had been ongoing for a few minutes and Naruto was becoming frustrated. Few if any of his attacks were hitting, whereas he was getting a fair share of jabs and strikes from Ko. He knew that he had never shown Ko this style before and yet it was as if Ko was familiar with it. Deciding that the fight had been too prolonged, Naruto began intensifying his attacks, hoping that it would end the match in his favour.

Ko was enjoying himself. He could tell that Naruto's new style was good, but it didn't matter to him as gentle fist was the best style in the world. The spar, for him, was a way in which he could try out new things as he had only ever fought against gentle fist and the Academy taijutsu style. It was refreshing.

When he narrowly dodged a fist viciously aimed for his head, Ko decided that it was probably time to end the spar. Dodging an elbow and reaching inside Naruto's guard, Ko smashed a palm into Naruto's chest and ended the match.

"That was a good spar," Kakashi said, calling the end of the match. "You both did very well."

"What the hell nii-san?" Naruto shouted in protest. "I thought you said this was the perfect style!"

"You're taking my words out of context, Naruto," Kakashi replied. "I said that the style was perfect for you. You're overall physique and the fact that you have a preference towards tanto jutsus means that the style fits you perfectly."

Naruto looked frustrated and Kakashi continued. "I never said you would be able to beat every other style. Ko is a taijutsu specialist and along with the fact that gentle fist is proclaimed the best taijutsu style in Konoha, your chances were slim. For someone who doesn't specialise in taijutsu, you did very well. Don't sulk."

"You did well Naruto!" Hanada said cheerfully. "Besides, Ko had his byakugan. You didn't have much hope."

_I would've demolished him with my sharingan._ Naruto thought to himself.

"Ok, Naruto, you can have a break." Kakashi said. "Hanada, you're up against Ko."

XXXXXXXXXX

After the hour or so of taijutsu practice and the hour lunch break, team 7 gathered at the training ground once again.

"Ok then. You all did well in your first team training and as you're well rested, we'll move on to missions next." Kakashi said.

"Missions! Missions! Missions!" Naruto and Ko chanted together.

_The boys have a one track mind._ Hanada sighed to herself.

"Alright, let's go to Hokage-sama." Kakashi said as he began walking.

"Huh? What for?" Ko asked as they made their way to the tower. "Don't you have the missions here?"

"Nope." Kakashi replied as he took out his Icha Icha. "Hokage-sama is the only one who's allowed to issue missions of any rank. We collect any missions whether D through to S-rank from him."

"That makes sense." Hanada said. "So what kinds of missions will we be doing?"

"Just D-ranks for now." Kakashi replied. "Then when I feel as though you're ready, we'll move on to bigger things."

"What sort of things will we get?" Naruto asked in excitement. "How about border patrol? Or bandit hunting? Man, I can't wait!"

"You'll see soon enough," Kakashi replied with a chuckle. "Anyway, we're here now."

XXXXXXXXXX

Sarutobi Hiruzen, the third Hokage of Konoha; deemed, by some, the greatest of all Hokages for his mastery of every jutsu in Konoha; known by all on the battlefield as the Professor and the God of Shinobi, was having a dilemma.

No matter how much paperwork he did, the 'In' pile seemed to be getting larger and larger by the minute. He wracked his brain for every possible solution and still couldn't find one. If he didn't take a break soon, there would be consequences.

Just then, he heard a scuffle outside his office and some voices.

"Naruto, you have to knock first!"

"Hell no!"

Just then, his door was kicked open and in entered Kakashi with Team 7.

"Yo, gramps, give me a cool mission!" Naruto said obnoxiously.

"Naruto! You can't talk to the Hokage like that! It's rude!" Hanada admonished. "I'm sorry Hokage-sama, I've been trying to teach him manners."

"That's alright," Sarutobi said with a wide smile. "I needed a break from all that paperwork anyway. So what do you need then?"

"We just came here for a mission, Hokage-sama." Kakashi said.

"Oh good, I think I have one here just right for you." The Hokage fished around in his D-rank mission pile looking for the right one. "Ah, here it is! It's a good starter mission." He said handing Kakashi the scroll. "You're to report to Mr Shiratori. Good luck with your first mission!"

"Don't worry gramps," Naruto said with a wave. "We'll take care of whatever danger there is. It's all part of the job."

_Does he even know what the mission is about?_ Sarutobi thought with a sweat drop.

XXXXXXXXXX

Team 7 approached the Shiratori residence and knocked on the door. An elderly man with a white moustache opened the door and his countenance brightened.

"Ah, you must be the genin I hired to paint my house." The old man said with a gentle smile.

"Nope." Naruto answered before Kakashi could say a word. "You must be thinking of someone else. We came here to take care of whatever dangerous problem you have."

Having said those words, Naruto and Ko struck a 'cool' pose and waited for the answer.

"Naruto..." Kakashi started in embarrassment. "We _are_ the genin team he hired to paint his house. This is only a simple D-rank mission..."

"Wha...?" Naruto and Ko both questioned as their poses wilted.

"Sorry about that Shiratori-san," Kakashi said with a bow. "These two boys graduated top of the Academy, but they're both idiots."

"No worries." The old man said with a chuckle. "I love a good sense of humour. Now come on in and get started. Brushes and buckets of paint are on the floor."

Once he had started painting the house and was sure that Mr Shiratori was away, Ko shouted out his displeasure.

"What the hell is this? We're _ninja_! Why are we doing a job some _painter_ could've done?"

"This is supposed to help your teamwork," Kakashi replied. "Besides, you're only freshly minted genin. You won't be able to handle missions of a higher rank yet."

"How the hell would you know if we can't do the missions? We haven't even tried yet!" Ko shouted. "But more importantly, why the hell aren't you helping?"

"Like I said, D-rank missions are all about teamwork. There's no need for me to do them. Besides, I had to do these as a kid, so I'm forcing them on you. When you're all jounin and have your own teams, you can get satisfaction from watching them suffer."

Kakashi finished with an eye smile which left the three genin even more irritated than they started.

XXXXXXXXXX

"Thanks you all for helping me with this," Mr Shiratori said as he shook all of their hands. "I don't know what I would have done without you."

"That's alright. It's just part of our job." Kakashi replied.

"Like hell it is..." Naruto muttered just before he received a bonk on the head.

"Have a nice day, children!" He called out as Team 7 made their way back to the Hokage tower.

XXXXXXXXXX

After a few minutes of silent walking, Kakashi decided to break the tension.

"Well you all did well today. You should be proud."

"That was so boring!" Naruto said, nearly crying. "Can we get a real mission now?"

"It wasn't that bad, Naruto." Hanada said, causing her to receive a glare. "Oh come on, Mr Shiratori was really nice! He even gave us cookies for the job!"

"Hanada's right, Naruto." Kakashi said. "We became ninja to help people and that's exactly what we're doing. Anyway, we're here now. Let's see if we can fit in another mission before individual training."

XXXXXXXXXX

"Oh, Team 7! You're back quite soon!" the Hokage said as he quickly hid his Icha Icha book in his drawer. "I'll have your pay sent to your respective accounts. Would you like another?"

"Yes please." Kakashi said before Naruto could talk.

"Ok let me see here... Mrs Yamaguchi would like some help picking up her groceries. I think you'll be able to handle that."

"Oh come on gramps! Give us a proper mission!" Naruto whined.

"Naruto, this is a proper mission." Sarutobi said. "Besides, I'm not going to give you a higher ranked mission until your sensei thinks you're ready for it."

"We're ready, right Kakashi nii-san?" Naruto said, looking at him with puppy eyes.

"Nope." Kakashi said flatly. "You're not ready yet. You've still got to learn to work better as a team. Now, let's go do some grocery shopping."

Team 7 collectively groaned.

XXXXXXXXXX

It was three o'clock in the afternoon by the time the genin had finished their chores and arrived at the training ground for Kakashi to start their training.

"Well done on your missions today. Although you could have done them without so much whining." Kakashi said as he looked at Naruto and Ko. "Since you're all so riled up, we can start your individual training now."

Each member lit up. This was their chance to improve in their favourite areas.

"Before you all run off, I'm going to explain what we'll be doing in these sessions." Kakashi said. "As you know, each of you will be training in your individual specialties: taijutsu for Ko, ninjutsu for Naruto and genjutsu for Hanada. But this isn't all you'll be learning. I'd like for each of you to also learn a different branch of the shinobi arts, as it's not good to specialise in only one area. Ko, you'll be learning about weaponry and its uses. Hanada, you'll be learning some medical ninjutsus. Naruto, you'll continue learning tanto jutsus."

"But I already know tanto jutsus!" Naruto complained. "I want something cooler."

"Tough. You're not a master; therefore you need to learn more." Kakashi said. "Now, you'll each be given a sensei for your specialties and a sensei for your second specialty. Ko, your senseis will be in training ground 9. Hanada, your genjutsu sensei will be in training ground 8 and your medical ninjutsu sensei will be at the hospital. Naruto, you're staying here. Any questions?"

When he didn't receive any, he continued. "Good, then I'll see you all tomorrow during team training where we'll assimilate what we were taught into our exercises. Good luck!"

XXXXXXXXXX

Hanada reached the centre of training ground 8 and waited for her sensei.

After five minutes, she grew concerned that she might have been waiting at the wrong place when she suddenly saw a giant fireball rushing towards her. She just managed to roll out of its way when she realised that she didn't feel any heat coming from it.

_A genjutsu!_ She realised and released it.

"That was good Hanada-chan." Her assailant said, approaching her slowly.

"Cousin!" Hanada exclaimed in happiness.

XXXXXXXXXX

"So, Kakashi nii-san," Naruto started. "Who are my senseis?"

"Your _sensei_ is me." Kakashi said simply. "Who else could it have been?"

"Wha...?" Naruto said in confusion. "B-but I thought we were supposed to have two different senseis for our different specialties."

"That's true Naruto. But I'm one of the best ninjutsu specialists in Konoha, save Hokage-sama and I'm probably the best at tanto jutsus. It had to be me."

"Wow! That's cool! D'you think I can be as good as you?"

"Of course! I don't doubt it for a second." Kakashi replied with a smile. "Now, I've got a new ninjutsu to teach you. It's called..."

XXXXXXXXXX

Ko was approaching the lake at the centre of training ground 9 when suddenly he was pinned to the floor by dozens of kunai.

"Anko-san! That's a very un-youthful thing to do to our very young and very youthful new student!" He heard a voice say.

"Oh come on Gai," He heard a second voice say. "I'm just having some fun. I've been _really_ bored."

The two figures appeared and landed in front of Ko. The first was a muscular man with fuzzy eyebrows and a perfect bowl cut wearing a hideous green spandex jumpsuit. The second was a beautiful woman wearing what could only be described as illegal clothing.

The woman leaned in towards his face on the ground and started talking.

"Hello Ko-kun," She breathed in a sultry way. "We're your new senseis. I hope we can have a _lot_ of fun."

_God, kill me now._ Ko thought in terror.

XXXXXXXXXX

XXXXXXXXXX

**OMAKE**

**What's under Naruto's mask?**

"It's probably fat lips!" Hanada said as she walked down the street with Ko. "Or huge buck teeth!"

"Nah, it's probably whiskers." Ko said in reply.

"How could it be whiskers? He's human isn't he?" Hanada said.

"Sometimes I wonder..." Ko said, which caused him to receive a bonk on the head from Hanada. "Ow! I'm being serious! He's a stupid kid, so it's probably something stupid like whiskers!"

"Fine, we'll check it out tomorrow." Hanada sighed. "Meet in the park after training."

"Fine, whatever."

XXXXXXXXXX

"Ok, do we all know the plan?" Hanada asked.

"Yeah, yeah. I get it. I've just got one thing to ask." Ko said. "I can sort of understand Inoko being here... BUT WHY THE HELL ARE THESE KIDS HERE?"

"Hey man, we wanna know just as much as you do!" Kiba said.

"Yeah!" Ino agreed. "We've been curious for like, ever!"

"Fine, fine." Hanada said. "Just remember to stick to the plan."

XXXXXXXXXX

"Thanks again for inviting me to this meal Hanada-chan!" Naruto said at the Ichiraku ramen bar. "Why are you paying again?"

"Oh Ko and I just thought you'd been working really hard and deserved a treat!" Hanada said.

"Gee thanks! But I don't really remember Ichiraku ever being this crowded..." Naruto said as he looked at Inoko and all the kids at the bar.

"They must be having some kind of promotional." Hanada said with a nervous chuckle. "Anyway, eat up your bowl of miso ramen!"

All of the inhabitants of the bar leaned in as Naruto was about to take his first mouthful of ramen. This was a legendary moment. If they could see underneath the mask, many dreams and bets would be fulfilled.

Just as Naruto was about to lift the ramen to his mouth, there was a loud bang outside of the bar, causing everyone to look.

"Whew! My new explosive tags work like a charm!" Anko said in glee.

In realisation, the kids all looked back at Naruto quickly but, alas, he had already finished.

_Wow he eats quickly!_ Chouji thought in admiration.

"Thanks for the meal Hanada-chan! It was great!"

"Take another bowl Naruto! I insist!" Hanada said rather forcefully.

"Nah, don't worry about it. I actually had some not too long ago, but I just needed a small top up. I'll see you around!" Naruto said as he walked away.

"Damn it, that was close!" Kiba shouted.

"I still say he has small kissing lips!" Ino said.

_All my hard work._ Hanada said with tears in her eyes. _Ruined!_

XXXXXXXXXX

XXXXXXXXXX

**Author's Note:** Well there you have it! Chapter 6 and a little omake just for all my fans out there!

This chapter was just a little transition chapter showing their training and their reactions to the dreaded D-rank missions.

Next chapter should be what you've all been waiting for: Team 7's first C-rank mission!

I'm looking forward to it and I hope you all are too!

Once again, thanks so much to my fans for helping this story to get to one hundred reviews already, after only chapter 5! I couldn't have done it without you guys!

See you all next week!

Ja ne!


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